In the wake of Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark signing with the Indiana Fever, fans are outraged at the superstar’s projected WNBA salary, which will earn her just $76,535 for her rookie season.
When you consider that Clark was the number-one draft pick, that amount does seem remarkably low, especially when you consider that the number-one draft pick for the NBA in 2023 was Victor Wembanyama, whose starting salary with the San Antonio Spurs was just over $12 million.
Is this fair?
According to Dave Rubin and guest Dennis Prager, yes.
While Dave gives credit where credit is due, calling Clark a “spectacular women’s basketball player,” he doesn’t think “[taking] some money from LeBron James and [giving] it to Caitlin Clark” is the answer.
Prager agrees, offering an analogy that puts things into perspective.
“How much does a supermodel make? The truth is some of them make millions of dollars a year,” he tells Dave.
And he’s correct. In 2023, several supermodels made tens of millions of dollars, and every single one of them was – you guessed it – a woman.
“Are there any male supermodels who make millions of dollars a year?” Prager asks. “I doubt it.”
Correct again. The highest-paid male model of 2023 was Sean O’Pry, who earned roughly $1.5 million.
Why the disparity?
“Because generally speaking, people would rather see women models than male models,” says Prager. “So is it fair that male models make so much less than female models? Yes, of course it’s fair!”
And just as the male modeling industry pales in comparison to the female modeling industry, so “the WNBA does not bring in the revenue of the NBA.”
“They take the gender confusion and then they combine it into something as it relates to capitalism that really just all leads to socialism,” says Dave.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip below.
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