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Candace Parker Contract & Salary Breakdown

Last Updated: July 1, 2023
She’s won every trophy there is to win, but she’s still not done yet — Boardroom breaks down the Las Vegas Aces’ Candace Parker salary particulars.

We throw around words like “legend” and “icon” a bit too much, don’t we? Chalk it up to stan culture, the reductiveness of social media, or ever-shortening attention spans.

But as it relates to a basketball titan like Candace Parker, you ought to err on the side of using both of those words as much as possible, because that’s how damn impressive her hardwood oeuvre truly is. How about:

  • Two WNBA MVP awards
  • Two WNBA championships
  • 2016 Finals MVP honors
  • Seven WNBA All-Star teams
  • 10 All-WNBA teams (seven First, three Second)
  • The 2020 Defensive Player of the Year award
  • Two Olympic gold medals
  • Two NCAA championships
  • Two consensus NCAA National Player of the Year awards

Yeah. So… is there an even bigger superlative than simply “legend” or “icon”?

Plenty of effusive ink has been spilled about CP3 over the years dating back to her rise to dominance with the Tennessee Volunteers, to be sure. She made more news in the early stages of 2023, however, when she opted to leave her hometown Chicago Sky, with whom she won her second career WNBA title in 2021, to join up with A’ja Wilson with the Las Vegas Aces in free agency.

That got us thinking — what does it cost to get a future Hall of Famer at the tail end of her professional career to flee the nest and sign on the dotted line? Let’s take a look at the numbers behind the Aces’ Candace Parker contract.

Candace Parker Contract Details & Salary

All dollar figures via Spotrac.

Years: 1
Total value: $100,000
Free agency: 2024

If you think Candace Parker deserves more than a simple hundo-grand for her contributions in Vegas this season, consider that she’s one of the most famous, prolific Adidas Basketball athletes there is, and that sort of deal comes with a healthy direct deposit. She recently launched her second signature “ACE” collection with the Three Stripes, and her relationship with the company

And this is not even to mention her budding role as a commentator with Turner Sports as part of TNT’s NBA coverage. Suffice it to say that CP3 is going to stay plenty busy even after she opts to call it a career on the hardwood.

Whenever that may be.

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Candace Parker’s Career Earnings

Salary data via Spotrac.

Due to the WNBA’s fledgling relationship with organized labor back when Candace Parker’s professional career began, we don’t have a proper accounting of her on-court earnings from her rookie season in 2008 with the Sparks through her final season with LA in 2015, to say nothing of her overseas stints with Ekaterinburg (Russia), Fenerbahçe (Turkey), or Xinjiang (China), where the salary ceilings are massively higher than what the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement allows.

That said, let’s examine the data starting in 2016, the year in which Parker won the first of two WNBA championships to date.

WNBA SALARY EARNINGS 2016-2022: $960,500

  • Los Angeles Sparks (6 seasons, 2016-20): $575,500
  • Chicago Sky (2 seasons, 2021-22): $385,000

ESTIMATED WNBA SALARY EARNINGS THRU 2023: $1,060,500


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Sam Dunn

Sam Dunn is the Managing Editor of Boardroom. Before joining the team, he was an editor and multimedia talent for several sports and culture verticals at Minute Media and an editor, reporter, and site manager at SB Nation. A specialist in content strategy, copywriting, and SEO, he has additionally worked as a digital consultant in the corporate services, retail, and tech industries. He cannot be expected to be impartial on any matter regarding the Florida Gators or Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter @RealFakeSamDunn.

About The Author
Sam Dunn
Sam Dunn
Sam Dunn is the Managing Editor of Boardroom. Before joining the team, he was an editor and multimedia talent for several sports and culture verticals at Minute Media and an editor, reporter, and site manager at SB Nation. A specialist in content strategy, copywriting, and SEO, he has additionally worked as a digital consultant in the corporate services, retail, and tech industries. He cannot be expected to be impartial on any matter regarding the Florida Gators or Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter @RealFakeSamDunn.