- Inside Kenyan star Madina Okot’s WNBA contract with the Atlanta Dream.
- Madina Okot was selected by the Atlanta Dream with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2026 WNBA Draft on April 14 in New York.
- Okot, just 21 years old and only six years into her basketball journey, is set to sign a four-year deal worth up to $1.3 million (approximately KES 168,415,000).
Kenya’s rising basketball star Madina Okot was selected by the Atlanta Dream with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2026 WNBA Draft on April 14 in New York.
Okot, a 6-foot-6 center, has only been perfecting her craft in the United States for the past two seasons.
She has already locked in her name among the best first-year players, earning a first-round selection and becoming just the second Kenyan-born athlete ever drafted into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
On April 8, the organization announced that the NCAA denied Okot another year of eligibility, leaving her no choice but to enter the WNBA draft after just two college campaigns in the States, having started her NCAA journey at Mississippi before joining the South Carolina Gamecocks.
READ MORE: Kenyan-born star Madina Okot makes history with WNBA Draft selection, joins Atlanta Dream
How Much Will Madina Okot Earn with the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA?
Insiders from the U.S. have already revealed the pay details for the rookie as she gears up to begin her stint with the Atlanta Dream this coming season.
Okot, just 21 years old, who only began her basketball career six years ago, is set to sign a four-year deal worth up to $1.3 million (approximately KES 168,415,000 at the current exchange rate as of April 14), according to FOS.
This includes a $289,133 (KES 37,457,180) base salary during her rookie season. This figure will rise each year, reaching $373,768 (KES 48,421,644) in the fourth year of the contract.
The 2026 rookies will not be earning the same pay as Azzi Fudd, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Thanks to the new collective bargaining agreement, she will be taking home more money than any first-year player in league history – more than double what any player made in any previous season.
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In mid-March, the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association agreed to a new CBA, ending a prolonged labor dispute that had lasted over a year and introducing the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women’s professional sports history.
In doing so, the union secured significant financial gains that will impact every player, including all rookies.
Notably, first-round selections will now receive a fully guaranteed contract in their rookie season, per Front Office Sports, which published the full rookie scale for players drafted this year.
As the No. 1 pick, Fudd will earn $500,000 in 2026 and $646,360 by the final year of her contract. In 2025, No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers made $78,831, and a supermax contract – the biggest salary in league history up to that point was at $249,244.
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The pay hits a flat rate for first-rounders after pick No. 10, with the final six picks of the first round landing first-year salaries of $289,133.
Second- and third-round picks, meanwhile, will take home identical $270,000 paychecks in their first years, although many will not make their desired rosters.
More than money: A dream come true for Madina Okot
For Okot, this is about more than just the money, it’s also about a career that she has truly built from the dust to glory, having started playing basketball in 2020 at Kaya Tiwi Secondary School.
She later suited up for Zetech University before taking her skills to the United States. She spent her first season at Mississippi State in Starkville, then moved to South Carolina, where her stock has been shining ever since.
Through the ups and downs of just six years in her career, Madina has carved her name into Kenya’s history books as one of the few Kenyan-born players to reach the WNBA.
She follows in the footsteps of Josephine Owino, the first Kenyan drafted in 2009 (28th overall by the Washington Mystics), and Olivia Ododa, who was selected in 2022 but represents the United States internationally.
She has joined the club where sensational star Angel Reese was traded from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream recently, making this a major career turning point for the Kenyan.