There are moments in a sport’s history that reframe everything that came before them and everything that follows. Jackie Young signing a $1.19 million contract with the Las Vegas Aces is one of those moments. According to ESPN, the two sides are close to finalizing a one-year deal that will make the 28-year-old guard the first million-dollar athlete in the history of the WNBA, a benchmark that has been a long time coming and carries weight far beyond the number itself.
The $1.19 million figure represents the maximum salary available to players outside the league’s newly established $1.4 million max contract tier. It is the ceiling for where Young currently sits, and it is a ceiling that no player in the league’s history has reached before her. For a guard who was drafted first overall by Las Vegas out of Notre Dame in 2019 and has spent six seasons quietly becoming one of the most complete two-way players in the game, the timing feels exactly right.
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The numbers Young put up during the 2025 season tell the story plainly. Sixteen and a half points per game, five assists, four and a half rebounds, and 1.3 steals, production that helped power the Aces to their third WNBA championship in four years. Her resume beyond the regular season is just as decorated: four All-Star appearances, two All-WNBA selections, the 2022 Most Improved Player award, two Olympic gold medals spanning 3×3 basketball in Tokyo and the full 5-on-5 competition in Paris, and an NCAA national championship in 2018. She has won at every level the game has to offer.
By locking Young in before free agency opens, the Aces front office clears the path to address the rest of its championship core. The franchise will now turn its attention toward retaining A’ja Wilson, the four-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP who has already expressed her desire to stay in Las Vegas, alongside six-time All-Star guard Chelsea Gray. The dynasty is not finished building. But first, history gets made.
