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Sky star Kamilla Cardoso is joining Project B, a Formula One–style basketball league set to launch in November 2026. Cardoso joins Janelle Salaün (France) and Li Meng (China) as the start-up league’s first wave of international signees.
The league will run during the WNBA offseason, staging five-on-five tournaments in seven cities around the world. U.S. stars including Alyssa Thomas, Nneka Ogwumike and Jewell Loyd have already announced their participation. And though teams won’t represent specific cities or regions, Project B is betting that individual stars can drive fan interest as much as — if not more than — traditional team identities.
This WNBA offseason, Cardoso is playing in the Chinese league, where she’s the reigning International Player of the Year. She took a major leap forward in her second season with the Sky, averaging 13.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. The organization is trying to build around Cardoso and Angel Reese, their No. 3 and No. 7 picks in the 2024 draft.
One of Project B’s major selling points is its financial package. Players get equity stakes in the league, and salaries have been reported at around $2 million. That’s far more than players earn even in newer leagues like Unrivaled, and dwarfs the $75,000 Cardoso made last WNBA season. However, a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement is being negotiated, and the current proposal reportedly has max earnings at $1.1 million.
Such earning power is newer territory for Cardoso. Though she became a college star at South Carolina, winning two national championships, NCAA rules prohibit international players from signing NIL deals. Cardoso was born and raised in Brazil before moving to the U.S. at 15.
