Steph Curry gave telling response when asked if NBA players are underpaid as pay gap row continues

Steph Curry is one of basketball's biggest names and also a vocal supporter of closing the gender pay gap in the sport.

As WNBA players are locked in negotiations over a fairer pay deal, Curry operates on a completely different level of income as an NBA icon. WNBA stars protested last week over their current Collective Bargaining Agreement, which sees players in the league entitled to 25 per cent of all profits as long as the league meets revenue targets each year.

Over in the NBA, players are guaranteed 50 per cent of profits regardless of revenue targets, with WNBA stars calling for an equal percentage deal rather than equal pay. For example, the average WNBA salary is reportedly $116,000 with NBA players averaging a huge $7.5 million per year, with the likes of Angel Reese claiming she is unable to pay her every day bills due to her current wage.

Steph Curry has offered support to WNBA players in their fight for fair pay. (Image: Getty)

Curry has previously leant his support to the cause of WNBA players fighting for an equal deal, telling the Players’ Tribune in 2018: “I think it’s important that we all come together to figure out how we can make that possible, as soon as possible. Not just as ‘fathers of daughters,’ or for those sorts of reasons.

"And not just on Women’s Equality Day. Every day – that’s when we need to be working to close the pay gap in this country. Because every day is when the pay gap is affecting women. And every day is when the pay gap is sending the wrong message to women about who they are, and how they’re valued, and what they can or cannot become.”

However, in a new interview, Curry has suggested that NBA stars like himself are still underpaid, despite him earning a reported $62.6 million salary from the extension he signed with the Golden State Warriors in 2024.

Asked by Complex if NBA players were underpaid, Curry replied: "I think because the way the CBA is structured right now, we can't participate in equity. That's a big deal because it is a partnership with ownership and a partnership the league. We're on a short term [end] of that revenue. Those numbers sound crazy but what the league is doing from whatever area you want to compare it to, to now, is probably ten times that."

Curry was asked if he felt NBA players were underpaid. (Image: Getty)

Curry's argument seems to be that players like himself who elevate the NBA and generate hundreds of millions in revenue should be entitled to a bigger share of that revenue. But his comments may not look as good when compared to the fight by his female counterparts who are paid considerably less.

Curry continued: "The idea that we can't participate in equity while we're playing is in part why I say yes we are underpaid because you want to be able to participate in that rise. I know we're blessed to be in a position playing basketball for a living and these are the kind of cheques people are earning. It's all deserved because it's a special commodity, a special industry that probably won't go anywhere because the entertainment value is there. Hopefully those rules change sooner or later a little bit so players can participate a little bit more in the upshot of team equity, the league valuations and that sort of stuff because I think we deserve it."