Angel Reese jokes about the cost of rent compared to her rookie salary: “The WNBA doesn't pay my bills at all”

CNN
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Although Angel Reese, along with her rival Caitlin Clark, is one of the main factors behind the WNBA's surge in popularity this season, the Chicago Sky star said her rookie salary couldn't cover her rent.

In an Instagram Live broadcast on Wednesday, Reese said her monthly rent is $8,000 — totaling $96,000 for the year — while her WNBA salary was $73,439.

“I hate paying them bills, baby,” she joked. “I just hope you all know that the WNBA doesn’t pay my bills at all. I don't even think it can pay any of my bills.

“Literally, I'm trying to think about my rent for the place I'm staying. Let me do the math real quick. I don’t even know my salary… 74 (thousand)?” she asked someone off camera.

“I live beyond my means, like you all think,” she laughed after her friend did the math.

Reese – a rebound and double-double machine – enjoyed a record-setting rookie season, but it was cut short by a wrist injury in early September.

On September 1, the seventh overall pick in this year's draft broke the WNBA's single-season record for rebounds, passing Sylvia Fowles, who retired as the league's career leader in rebounds after the 2022 season. The record was later broken by Las Vegas Aces superstar and league MVP A'ja Wilson following her injury.

Reese also broke the single-season record for offensive rebounds while already becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 20 double-doubles and the most consecutive double-doubles (15) ever in the league.

The former LSU Tigers star recorded 26 double-doubles this season, becoming just one of two players in league history to do so in a single year.

According to the website On3 – which tracks college and high school sports as well as name, image and likeness (NIL) deals – Reese has endorsement deals with Reebok, Beats by Dre, Air Bnb, Tampax and Hershey's Reese's Pieces chocolates, among others.

Reese told ESPN earlier this year that her WNBA salary was a “bonus” on top of her NIL deals.

“Being able to play for four to five months and get $75,000 on top of the other endorsement deals I do,” she said. “I think that’s a plus for me.”

Over the years, many WNBA players have plied their trade overseas in the offseason to make more money, which Reese said “nobody wants to do.”

Reese is also one of several WNBA stars who have signed up to participate in Unrivaled, a new three-on-three basketball league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

In addition to the equity investment, the duo said all salaries would be in the six figures, signaling “the highest average salary in the history of the women's professional sports league.”

According to Sports Illustrated, the average salary for the eight-week tournament that begins in January and runs parallel to the WNBA is reportedly $250,000, more than the WNBA's supermax salary of $241,984 in 2024.