The mascot of the Denver Nuggets team in the NBA earns almost three times more than the highest-paid players in the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WNBA). This difference in salary has fueled the controversy over the huge difference between salaries in the two leagues, reports EFE.

Mascot of the Denver Nuggets team Photo: David Zalubowski/AP/Profimedia

Denver Nuggets Mascot Rocky Mountain Lion Earns $625,000 a Year

Sport Business Jurnal reported this week that Rocky the Mountain Lion, the Nuggets’ mascot, earns $625,000 a year, making the man behind the suit the NBA’s highest-paid mascot.

Harry Falcon from the Atlanta Hawks, who receives $600,000 a year, is not far away.

Those hefty salaries for the Nuggets and Hawks mascots contrast with the WNBA players, who have a maximum contract salary of $228,094 for the 2022 season.

This year, three WNBA stars reached the maximum salary: the legendary Diana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury), Breanna Stewart and Jewell Lloyd (both from the Seattle Storm).

Stephen Curry, the highest salary in the NBA – $45.78 million

By comparison, Stephen Curry, star of the champion Golden State Warriors, was the highest-paid player in the 2021-2022 NBA season with a salary of $45.78 million.

NBA basketball players, however, have other income besides their salary, coming from sponsorships or investments, from which stars such as LeBron James earn much more than on the court.

In that sense, Rocky Mountain Lion’s salary has been used on social media as a new example of the huge gender pay gap in North American basketball.

“I can learn to be a mascot,” Angel McCaughtry, the WNBA’s leading scorer in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, tweeted on Wednesday.

Controversy over low player salaries in the WNBA is nothing new, and there was an uproar before the start of last season after it was revealed that Becky Hammon, coach of the Las Vegas Aces, would be paid a million dollars a year. , which is four times the maximum salary of the players, reports Agerpres.