Aliyah Boston and the Indiana Fever have agreed to a four-year, $6.3 million contract extension, the largest total salary deal in WNBA history. Boston will earn $1 million in 2026, replacing her previous salary of $574,612 under the old collective bargaining agreement. From 2027 through 2029, she will earn 20% of the Indiana salary cap each season.
The extension was made possible through the Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract provision, known as the EPIC clause, created as part of the new collective bargaining agreement ratified last month. Boston is the first player in league history to sign under this provision. The clause allows players still on their rookie deal who have earned All-WNBA recognition in their first three seasons to renegotiate their salary and extend their contract by a minimum of three years.
Boston qualified after being named to the All-WNBA Second Team last season, which also came with an All-Defensive Second Team selection. She chose to take $1 million in 2026 rather than the standard maximum of $1.19 million, a deliberate decision to give the Fever financial flexibility to retain other players around her.
What Boston has done to earn it
In three seasons with Indiana, Boston has not missed a single game. She was the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year and has been named an All-Star in each of her three seasons since being selected first overall by the Fever out of South Carolina, where she won a national championship in 2022.
Last season she posted career highs across the board, averaging 15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game during the regular season. She finished sixth in MVP voting and set a single-season franchise record with 361 rebounds. In the playoffs she elevated further, averaging 12.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists as Indiana reached the semifinals for the first time since 2015 before falling in five games to the Las Vegas Aces, who went on to win the championship.
She already ranks fourth in Fever history with 1,051 rebounds and second in double-doubles with 41, numbers that reflect how consistently dominant she has been since her first day in Indiana.
The core that Indiana is building around
Boston’s extension makes her the Fever’s second $1 million player alongside guard Kelsey Mitchell, who agreed to a one-year supermax deal worth $1.4 million last week. The Fever’s core of Boston, Mitchell, and Caitlin Clark has transformed Indiana from one of the league’s weakest franchises into a genuine championship contender in just three seasons.
Clark, the 2024 No. 1 pick and All-WNBA First Team selection, is also eligible for the EPIC clause but is expected to wait until next year. She is entering the third year of her rookie deal and cannot renegotiate until the fourth year. Under the new CBA, her 2026 salary will rise significantly from her previous $85,873 to $528,846. Boston and Clark are now under contract together through at least 2027.
Indiana begins training camp Sunday and opens its regular season on May 9 at home against the Dallas Wings.
The Liberty lock in their championship core
In related WNBA news, the New York Liberty announced Friday that Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu have all signed multiyear deals to return to New York. Stewart and Ionescu each signed identical three-year standard max contracts at $1.19 million this season, earning 17% of the cap annually. Jones also signed a three-year deal at a slightly lower salary.
The trio was part of New York’s 2024 WNBA championship team. In 1,733 regular season minutes with all three on the court together since 2023, the Liberty have posted a net rating of plus-16.8 and hold an 81.4% winning percentage in games all three start. The Liberty also re-signed Betnijah Laney-Hamilton to a one-year deal worth $400,000.