Brianna Turner has urged her current and future WNBA colleagues to think about their future.
The Indiana Fever star, who has been in the league since 2019, has taken it upon herself to offer a reminder about 401(k) contributions.
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Salary and benefits in the WNBA have been a massive talking point in recent years, due to the explosion in popularity of women’s basketball.
Last October, one day after the WNBA Finals concluded, the players’ union (WNBPA) announced that they would be opting out of their current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the league.
The current agreement lasts through October 31, 2025, which has given the league and the union a year to negotiate the next agreement.
Should the two parties fail to agree on terms, there has been suggestion that a player strike is on the table.
But while wider CBA issues will continue to be discussed, ahead of the 2025 WNBA Draft on Monday, Turner detailed how stars can get the most out of the current deal.
“WNBA Draft is almost here,” she wrote on X, re-posting her message from 12 months ago.
“2025 401k max contribution is $23,500. With the current 25% WNBA match, that’s an additional $5,875. Happy investing.”
As Turner points out, the league will match a quarter of the maximum contribution under the current CBA.
Last year, she even noted that the benefit is listed on ‘page 93’ of the CBA, for those players who perhaps weren’t aware.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, meanwhile, has previously touted the benefits available under the deal.
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She told ESPN last July that the WNBA’s 401(k) program, which includes an annual league contribution based on years of service on top of the employer match, is on par with other corporations’ retirement benefits.
Still, players will expect to see improved terms in the next CBA, given the growth of the WNBA in recent years.
Last July, the league struck an 11-year media deal with Disney, Amazon Prime Video and new rights holder NBCUniversal, that is said to be worth a massive $2.2billion, or $200m annually.
One of the biggest rising stars in women’s basketball, Flau’Jae Johnson, has decided to wait for that lucrative deal to come into play before she enters the league.
It will begin in 2026, while expansion teams in San Francisco, Portland and Toronto have been confirmed.
WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said in a statement last year that the union will hope to ‘fully professionalize the league, secure proper wages, improve working conditions and lock in meaningful benefits’ for the next deal.
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Turner, who continues to push for better conditions, even discussed her soon-to-be teammate Caitlin Clark’s rookie salary earlier this year.
In an act of solidarity, she expressed her happiness at rookie stars earning more money, while still calling for better pay given the clear gap to the NBA.
“Appreciative that rookies this year are making significantly more than I did,” she said.
“I’m hopeful that rookies five years from now are making significantly more than rookies today. It’s all about the growth, even if it’s more beneficial for others.”
Turner, meanwhile, signed with Indiana in March, having played five seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, as well as one with the Chicago Sky.
Despite not pulling on a Fever jersey before, she has described landing on the team as a ‘full circle moment’, and is excited to link up with Clark and her new teammates for 2025.
“Indiana is such a big basketball state, the fan bases, they go full out for their teams,” Turner said.
“I followed a lot of these players throughout their college careers and professional careers.
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“So it’s kind of like a full circle moment to be on the same team with a lot of these players.”
