Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are two of the biggest names in the WNBA, although a 17-year-old in a completely different sport will likely achieve more than the two star rookies.

Anna Leigh Waters is one of the best pickleball players in the world and has been on many rankings since she was a teenager. Her outstanding pickleball skills have earned her a contract that dwarfs even some of the WNBA’s best players, aside from Clark and Reese.

By comparison, Clark, the Indiana Fever star, earned $76,535 this year, the first of her four-year, $338,056 rookie contract as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. With the Chicago Sky, Reese earned that year 2024 No. 7 pick, $73,439.

However, if the 17-year-old’s agent is to be believed, Waters’ contract through 2024 will exceed both stars’ 2024 WNBA contract. Speaking to Forbes in September, Kelly Wolf explained that the pickleball star is the highest-paid pickleball player regardless of gender.

“She will make more than $3 million this year,” she told the outlet in a phone interview. “She has become the face of pickleball and both the PPA Tour (Professional Pickleball Association) and MLP (Major League Pickleball) know it.”

Despite being so young, Waters already has sponsorship deals with FILA for her clothing and shoes, Paddletek provides her paddles, Lock Laces are used for her shoelaces, and she even has a deal with Carvana. Additionally, Cetaphil, Biofreeze, Collectbobbles – a bobblehead company – and Shiseido (sun care products) also have a deal with Waters.

“I’m young, I still live with my parents, but I make over seven figures a year,” Waters said. For the young star, pickleball was something that fell into her lap at the age of 12, becoming the youngest professional pickleball player in history.

“When I first started playing pickleball, you would go to a local tournament and play on these taped-off courts that were on tennis courts, or maybe even in the indoor basketball court, and it was just a fun thing that people did. Waters continued, according to Forbes.

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“And then when COVID happened, I noticed that pickleball was really picking up, and that was because a lot of families were going to parks or even building courts in their driveways and it was something they could do together and have fun. And after COVID hit, the tournaments got a lot bigger. We played at larger facilities, more national and global sponsors got into the sport.”

And while Clark’s WNBA contract may pale in comparison to Waters, the Fever star is still one of the richest athletes of 2024. Forbes ranked Clark as the 13th highest-paid athlete of the year, reportedly earning US$8.1 million -dollars, with $8 million earned through endorsements.

Reese, on the other hand, has not disclosed her net worth, although she claims it is worth more than the previously reported $2 million. During an appearance at ComplexCon in Las Vegas, the star striker explained that she can easily support her family.

“I can retire my mom soon, I can pay off my mortgage, my family, everyone is taken care of,” Reese said, according to PEOPLE. “One thing about me is I have a really good circle around me and I think that’s really important.