Contrary to what some may believe, the NBA is not a male-only league. Women are perfectly entitled to play in the NBA if they are good enough, just as are men. A few have even tried out for teams.
The truth is that the overwhelming majority of people make it female - simply are not good enough to play in the NBA, and therefore can't make the kind of money that NBA players make.
The difference is that a man who is not good enough to play in the NBA does not have the option of playing in the WNBA, while a woman does. In other words, women actually have a greater opportunity than do men - it's just that every woman, like every man, is limited by their ability to play basketball. If they are not good enough, they can't play the NBA.
Spot on - the average WNBA salary is about $130.000 / yr, and the highest is in the neighborhood of a quarter million. The *lowest* NBA salary is a bit above a half-million / yr.
So the first woman to make it to the NBA can expect to at least double her salary, and probably get a lot more just from all the “glass ceiling” hype.
But I’m not holding my breath waiting for it to happen.