Inside the Homes of Four WNBA Stars After a Landmark Deal

The WNBA's May 2026 collective bargaining agreement raised the league's minimum salary to $270,000 — a 300% jump from 2025's $66,079 floor. Supermax contracts (the highest individual pay tier a team can offer) now cap at $1.4 million. That single line item is reshaping how players live, where they settle, and what their off-court spaces look like.

Housing sat at the center. The league had proposed ending its player-housing program, in place since 1999. The union pushed back. "We need players to be afforded an opportunity to build the wealth so that they can afford housing," Nneka Ogwumike, president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association, told AD. The league agreed to phase housing out more slowly.

For a recent AD feature, four WNBA stars opened their doors.

What does homeownership mean to Nneka Ogwumike?

Ogwumike — the Los Angeles Sparks power forward nicknamed "Madame President" for leading the union — announced in August that she'll retire after the 2026 season. She owns two homes: one in Houston, where she grew up the eldest of a Nigerian-American family, and a Los Angeles condo she bought in 2022.

"Frugality is definitely my default," she says. The condo runs in bold colors with a 1970s vibe and floods with natural light. "I actually have become more confident," she says.

Vibrant photos by her cousin, Los Angeles photographer Chinaedu E. Nwadibia, cover the walls. A vintage orange sofa anchors her weekend Pilates room — which her sister, ESPN broadcaster Chiney Ogwumike, dubbed "the Nneka-lodeon room" for its Nickelodeon hue.

Her family treats the place like a hotel. "My dad likes to call it The Hotel," Ogwumike says. "My only real rule is you have to ask before you borrow something," she adds with a laugh.

Why did Lexie Hull fall for Indiana?

The Indiana Fever guard moved to Indianapolis after Stanford, expecting never to call the heartland home. "Flashback to four and a half years ago, and I was like, I'll never consider Indiana home," Hull says.

She and her fiancée, baseball player Will Matthiessen, bought a three-bedroom ranch with soaring ceilings. "It felt like home the minute we walked in," Hull says. Now neighbors wave Fever flags and offer to haul her garbage on road trips.

Her miniature Australian labradoodle, Libby, is the true MVP. The dog sprints the slatted fence line while Hull chats with passers-by. "I definitely don't take it for granted," Hull says.

"This opening weekend for the WNBA season, I had seven people staying with us," Hull adds. Matthiessen tends the backyard garden with care. "He really takes it to heart," Hull says.

How is Natisha Hiedeman settling into Seattle?

The Seattle Storm's starting guard, fresh off a Minnesota Lynx stint, is on the West Coast for the first time in her life. She lives in a franchise-provided high-rise with floor-to-ceiling windows and Mount Rainier views.

Hiedeman picked the unit for her four pets: dogs Frankie and Finn, cats Maverick and Saint. The cats lounge in sun-tracking hammocks. The feline spot is "anywhere the sun can hit," she says.

Frankie, styled with a mohawk, draws admirers on Seattle walks. "Very pet-friendly city," Hiedeman says.

Inside, the three-bedroom apartment is the nicest team housing she's had. She personalized it with bold pieces, including a bright orange BE@RBRICK (a collectible bear-shaped toy figure from Japan's Medicom Toy) modeled on the cartoon cat Garfield. "I like colors, unique things, just very hype," she says.

She also bought her first home last year, in her native Green Bay. Now she's hunting for unique furniture to fill it.

What did Chelsea Gray build for her son?

The four-time WNBA champion (fans call her "Point Gawd") and her wife, Tipesa, designed their Las Vegas home around one rule: warmth. "When you come into our house, I want it to be warm, sophisticated, and to feel like, Oh yes, Black people live here," Gray says.

The Las Vegas Aces guard met Tipesa as a college player 15 years ago. The couple welcomed their son, Lennox, in February 2024.

The open floor plan keeps Lennox in view. Each morning he stands on a toddler tower (a wooden learning platform for small children) and cracks eggs for Gray as she cooks. "It's our thing," she says.

Family photographs fill a living-room collage. A pool table echoes one Gray grew up with in California. Their chocolate-toned movie room is wrapped with posters of leading Black actors. The layout is meant to evolve. "We can switch things out as he grows," she says. "It's meant to grow with him."

What does this change for the league?

The May 2026 contract moved the WNBA from subsistence pay toward something resembling a living wage, even as its floor remains a fraction of NBA salaries. For the four players profiled, that change shows up in kitchens, gardens, art collections, and guest rooms.

Players can now "focus only on basketball," Ogwumike says, with the freedom to live however and wherever they want. Four newly unlocked front doors suggest the league is starting to honor the promise.