And before the first games of 2023 tip off, Insider looked at the league's highest-paid players on each team based on Spotrac's salary figures.
Three players will earn a league-high $234,936 on supermax salaries for the upcoming season. Another 17 players, seven of whom are the highest earners on their respective teams, will command $200,000 or more this year.
The 2021 WNBA All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Two franchises — the Los Angeles Sparks and Atlanta Dream — do not have a single player taking home $200,000 or more this season.
Check out the highest-paid player on each WNBA team for the 2023 campaign below:
Los Angeles Sparks — Azurá Stevens ($190,000)
Azurá Stevens.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Azurá Stevens spent the first five years of her WNBA career split between two different franchises — the Dallas Wings and the Chicago Sky. But as a free agent ahead of the 2023 season, the 6-foot-6 forward headed for Hollywood to join the Los Angeles Sparks.
Stevens signed a two-year, $385,000 contract with the team, making her the highest-paid player in LA. Former MVP Nneka Ogwumike, who has been the face of the franchise in recent years, signed for below market rate to help bring in a stronger team around her.
Atlanta Dream — Cheyenne Parker ($196,100)
Cheyenne Parker.
AP Photo/Brandon Wade
The Atlanta Dream aren't lacking star power, but their roster is full of young talent, mostly playing on rookie-scale contracts. Forward Cheyenne Parker is the team's highest earner for the 2023 season.
She'll receive $196,100 in base salary this year after signing a three-year, $571,650 contract extension with the franchise this spring.
Minnesota Lynx — Napheesa Collier ($202,154)
Napheesa Collier.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Napheesa Collier inked a three-year, $552,516 contract with the Minnesota Lynx just ahead of the 2022 season. The two-time WNBA All-Star and 2019 Rookie of the Year has become the face of the historic franchise following the retirement of league legend Sylvia Fowles.
Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson — who has already won the league's top individual honor twice at just 26 years old — will be the top earner on an Aces squad brimming with big-name talent. She re-signed with Las Vegas in February 2022 for the maximum she could command — $398,422 over two years — $202,155 of which she'll receive for the 2023 campaign.
Chicago Sky — Kahleah Copper ($205,000)
Kahleah Copper.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Shortly after helping the Chicago Sky take down the Las Vegas Aces in 2021 to win their first-ever WNBA Championship — earning Finals MVP honors to boot — Kahleah Copper decided to anchor herself in Chicago. The athletic wing re-signed before the 2022 season on a two-year deal worth $405,000.
This season, with many of the team's former superstars taking their talents to the league's newly formed superteams, Copper is the highest-paid player in the Windy City.
Indiana Fever — Kelsey Mitchell ($206,000)
Kelsey Mitchell.
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
Kelsey Mitchell has spent her entire WNBA career with the Indiana Fever — a team that has notoriously struggled to break through since losing franchise player Tamika Catchings to retirement. But despite the squad's struggles, Mitchell has proven without a doubt that she's among the greatest talents the league has to offer.
As the Fever look to embark on a brighter future, they opted to build around Mitchell by extending a three-year, $618,000 deal to the prolific guard. She'll be the young team's highest-paid player this year with a $206,000 base salary.
New York Liberty — Jonquel Jones ($211,150)
Jonquel Jones competes in the 2022 WNBA All-Star Game.
Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Shortly after earning WNBA MVP honors in 2021, 6-foot-6 superstar Jonquel Jones signed a two-year, $416,150 deal with the Connecticut Sun. But after coming up short through several trips to the WNBA Finals, Jones sought out a trade to the New York Liberty ahead of the 2023 season.
She'll be the new-look Liberty's highest-paid player in 2023, commanding $211,150 on the year.
Washington Mystics — Elena Delle Donne ($234,350)
Elena Delle Donne.
AP Photo/Terrance Williams
After winning the 2019 WNBA championships, two-time WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne re-signed with the Washington Mystics to the tune of $899,480 over four years. The league's lone member of the elusive 50-40-90 club will earn $234,350 in 2023 — the final year of her contract — as she hopes to return to peak form following several injury-riddled seasons.
Connecticut Sun — DeWanna Bonner ($234,350)
DeWanna Bonner.
Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
DeWanna Bonner spent the first 10 seasons of her WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury — and won two championships in Arizona. In 2020, she headed to the Connecticut Sun in a sign-and-trade deal that granted her supermax eligibility.
Now, in the final year of that mammoth contract, Bonner will earn a few hundred dollars less than the highest-paid players as the Sun seek to return to the Finals for the second consecutive season.
Phoenix Mercury — Diana Taurasi ($234,936)
Diana Taurasi.
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
Diana Taurasi is a WNBA legend. She's the league's all-time leader in points and three-pointers, has won three WNBA championships and two Finals MVP awards, and has earned 15 All-Star nods as well as five scoring titles.
And even though she enters the 2023 season as the oldest player in the league at 40 years old, she's managed to continue making a substantial impact on her Phoenix Mercury into the twilight of her career. The franchise rewarded her accordingly ahead of the 2023 season, offering the sharpshooter a two-year supermax deal to stay with the team she's played with for her entire 19-year WNBA career.
Dallas Wings — Arike Ogunbowale ($234,936)
Arike Ogunbowale.
AP Photo/Brandon Wade
Arike Ogunbowale is the young leader of an up-and-coming Dallas squad, as evidenced by the Wings locking their star into a three-year supermax deal just three seasons into her WNBA career. But they had plenty of incentive to keep the two-time All-Star in the Lone Star State: she's led the team in scoring every season since her arrival in 2019 and was the entire league's leading scorer in 2020.
Seattle Storm — Jewell Loyd ($234,936)
Jewell Loyd.
Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
Jewell Loyd — a 5-foot-10 guard from Chicago — was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft. Since then, she's been a key contributor for the Seattle Storm and helped them win two WNBA championships alongside fellow superstars Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart.
For the first time in her career, the four-time WNBA All-Star will be tasked with leading the Storm without Bird and Stewart by her side. But the franchise showed faith in Loyd by offering her a two-year supermax deal ahead of last season, making her the highest-paid player on her team for the 2023 campaign.
Dikla Akrat 