“If you want us to be here you have to pay us more,” the Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams spoke on the paltry WNBA salaries during a recent exit press conference. Notably, Williams was taking a jibe at the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she had opined that the top W players can make around $700,000 a year. However, the French star’s demand for fair compensation didn’t go down well with the W fans. Questioning her presence in the league, they slammed her by giving an example of the number one pick Caitlin Clark. The Olympics Finale star, known for her outright honesty, took to TikTok to answer back her critics in style.

Williams came live on her TikTok account on Saturday to take a jibe at her haters and also give them a solid reply. “In the video, I am talking about WNBA salaries and our collective bargaining agreement. I’m not talking about personal endorsements. I’m not gonna disclose what I make from personal endorsements. I’m talking about specifically what WNBA salaries are and what is written in our CBA, which all you can google. And it’s all public information. To everyone saying leave the country, if you’re unhappy in America, I did.”

Notably, Williams denounced the US for representing France in the EuroBasket 2021 and then in the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, she earned the flak of the then Chicago Sky head coach James Wade who also placed her on the full-season suspension list for not treating W as a “priority.” The Nevada-born since then has been traveling between the USA and France for her duties. Only after her gritty 19-point performance in the Paris Olympics Final against the USA did Williams consider making it back to the W while taking note of the fans’ request to her to ply her trade in the world’s most popular women’s basketball league.

While recounting the reasons behind her decision to make it to the W this season, Williams also expressed that she made more overseas. She remarked that a troller who had commented that Clark does make the figures cited by Engelbert was wrong since Williams wasn’t talking about the endorsements. Calrifying the same, the 28-year-old stated “‘Clark makes 70,000 in the WNBA’. So I know all these you know Caitlin Clark fans whatever like Caitlin Clark makes 700,000. That’s off of endorsements. I’m not talking about endorsement. I’m talking about the WNBA. and no there is not one player in the entire WNBA that makes the money that the Commissioner likes to brag about.”

Notably, Engelbert in 2022 had opined that the top players “can make up to $700,000,” while reflecting on the Brittney Griner situation then. However, the number one pick this season will be earning $76,500 this season which is quite less when compared to Engelbert’s prediction. And Williams clarified the same, divulging that she was talking about the WNBA salaries not being enough to keep the international players in the league.

“I come back when the timing’s right. Like if it works out. Because I have other things that I prioritize that me personally I choose to prioritize and that’s my choice…. I’ve chosen to play for my national team and make more money overseas,” Williams further added. She also subtly took a dig at Wade for suspending her for prioritizing the French national team over her WNBA duties.

“I come back to Seattle because they treat me well. I’m willing to play for less money because the staff and the teammates are always so great to me. And I enjoy playing there and I enjoy playing in the WNBA. It just happens that it always doesn’t work out,” Williams concluded on the issue.

For the unversed, Storm’s #5 signed a 1-year contract worth $76,535 contract this season. Her salary cap will be at $23,491 for this season while she will make an equal amount as her base salary. Therefore, while Williams slammed Engelbert, she also clarified what she meant in her statement.

Gabby Williams’s statements spark controversy

As mentioned before when Engelbert was dealing with Brittney Griner’s case, she had remarked that players need not leave the country to play overseas. Talking about the same, Williams shared her side of the story that the league did not compensate the athletes as much as Engelbert was pointing. Instead, she talked about not earning from TV rights and marketing agreements, which points to the pay disparity between the NBA and the WNBA. As per Forbes, while the male counterparts earn around $10 million on average, a W star only earns as much as $150,000 per season on average. Therefore, this stark difference is what has infuriated the W athletes.

“The W thinks they don’t have to pay us more in order for us to be here. And I think I didn’t express that when I first talked about prioritization you know. Our commissioner talked about us being able to, you know, make $700,000. That’s actually not true at all. There’s not one player who makes that. And we were promised TV marketing agreements and leading marketing agreements but they have fallen quite short. So it’s still not enough for us international players to want us to stay here and that’s what’s the choice for players if I make a choice to make more money… So you know the WNBA if you want us to be here you have to pay us more. It’s business, it’s how that works, that’s all that,” Williams stated on Thursday.

Perhaps, after Williams has clarified her statement, fans will stop slamming her. The pay disparity is not a new thing that the players are rightfully asking for. From Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson to Candace Parker, all have spoken up on the topic. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen how Engelbert reacts to the latest development in the case.