Jemele Hill wasn’t a fan of the tone being used around the conversation on WNBA salaries — and she let it be known.
The former ESPN journalist and current contributor to The Atlantic took to X on Tuesday in a lengthy post about the situation that the WNBA faces and responded to critics who bashed what the league was paying its newest star, Caitlin Clark.
Clark will earn $338,056 over four years, per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, with the Indiana Fever after the club drafted women’s college basketball’s biggest star first overall in Monday’s WNBA draft in Brooklyn.
“I’m already annoyed by this conversation because for years, WNBA players have fought for more money. And when they were outspoken, so many of y’all told them to shut up or reminded them how they had no value The NBA has had 50+ years of investment, media coverage, etc. After 27 years, the WNBA will not be the current NBA. So stop comparing them,” Hill wrote on social media.
Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she is selected as the number one overall pick to the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
Hill then went on to point out that WNBA players compete for four months and are given free housing and cars as part of their deals before suggesting that the lower salaries were “why so many women’s players play overseas to boost/supplement their income.”
“Weaponizing this information against WNBA players is another form of misogyny. These women have been dreaming of playing professionally in front of American audiences their whole lives,” Hill continued. “Instead of clowning and reminding them of what they’re not — buy the merchandise, go to the games, and watch the games on television.
“Very easy to criticize when most of y’all couldn’t get paid to compete at anything.”
Hill continued to trade barbs with people responding to her post on the social media platform.
Hill had been complimentary of Clark’s play and said she believed it would translate to the WNBA, but she also criticized the way that Clark has been held up by the media.
Jemele Hill spoke on X about how she feels about the discussion around WNBA salaries. Getty Images for BET+
Still, Clark’s impact on women’s basketball has been hard to deny after a record 2.4 million people tuned in to ESPN on Monday to watch the WNBA draft.
That number was higher than last year’s MLB draft on ESPN/MLB Network and the NHL draft, which also aired on ESPN.
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