INDIANAPOLIS – How much is one chromosome worth?

For a basketball player, it can be more than $200 million.

Just ask Tamika Catchings.

A single chromosome is the only genetic difference between men and women. If the Indiana Fever forward had been born with XY chromosomes instead of XX, she might have been, well, another Kevin Garnett. That Y equal more than $20 million a year in salary.

By Michelle Pemberton, The Indianapolis Star Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings was named 2011 WNBA MVP after averaging 15.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals a game.

Consider the similarities between Catchings and the Boston Celtics star:

Catchings, 32, has been one of the world's best female players for a decade. She is the WNBA's reigning Most Valuable Player, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, and will be playing for her third Olympic gold medal in London this summer.

Like Catchings, Garnett, 36, is an all-around player. He has been MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA and owns an Olympic gold medal.

Yet Catchings' career earnings are an estimated $3 million to $4 million, including a Nike endorsement for an undisclosed amount.

And Garnett's? $291 million, excluding endorsements, according to basketball-reference.com. According to Sports Illustrated, Garnett now makes more than $10 million a year off the court with adidas; Anta, a Chinese sportswear brand; Gatorade; and Wheaties in addition to his $21 million salary.

Catchings, who makes the league maximum $105,500 per season, is not one to measure quality of life by dollars. Neither is she naive to the fact men in her sport can outearn her 200-to-1. But she hopes for a day when women's salaries begin to rise, as they did back in the 1970s for the NBA.

A chromosome of difference Whats the difference genetically between a man and a woman? A single chromosome -- XX for women, XY for men. On the basketball court, that Y is worth millions of dollars. Heres a comparison between two players with similar accolades, the Indiana Fevers Tamika Catchings (WNBA) and the Boston Celtics Kevin Garnett (NBA): Catchings Garnett Points 19.8 19.3 Rebounds 9.1 10.6 Assists 4.4 4.0 Blocks 1.1 1.5 All-Star Games 7 13 MVPs 1 1 Defensive Player of Year 4 1 Olympic gold medals 2 1 Yearly salary $105,500 $21 million Note: Statistics are on a per-game basis prorated to account for WNBA games being eight minutes shorter. Source: The Indianapolis Star

"It honestly hasn't been brought to my attention, but it's a true statement," said Catchings, whose team opens its season Saturday against the Atlanta Dream. "When you look at it, even when you celebrate 40 years of Title IX and the 16th year of the WNBA, … hopefully, one day things will change."

Her father, Harvey Catchings, played 11 seasons in the NBA. Harvey, 60, was never a star — he never averaged more than 6.1 points per game — but was making $262,000 by the end of his career in 1985.

He has discussed pay disparity with his daughter but added that a stable pro women's league would have been unimaginable 20 years ago. Moreover, he said today's NBA salaries were once unimaginable.

In 1974, Harvey Catchings said he had to "fight tooth and nail" for $37,500 plus a $10,000 signing bonus.

"We knew that even if we saved every dime that we had, we were still going to have to have jobs to support our families and to support our lifestyles," Harvey Catchings said. "Lifestyles back then are so different from what they are today. It's just incredible."

In the 1960s, when the NBA was at a similar point as the WNBA is now in its development, for players, including the stars, often had offseason jobs. In 1970, the average NBA salary was $35,000, about $207,000 in today's dollars.

Big money, but far from the $5 million average now.

Today, the estimated median salary — half the players make more than that — is $2.5 million. The league minimum is $473,604. The salary cap for an entire WNBA team of 11 players is $878,000. Even prorated for the 34-game season, it's less than the median NBA salary.

WNBA advocates assert it is unfair to compare a 16-year-old league to the 66-year-old NBA.

The NBA and Commissioner David Stern steadfastly have supported the women's league although some WNBA teams are now independently owned.

"Comparing the two, I don't think, is appropriate," Fever Coach Lin Dunn said. "You have to look at how we're growing our game and where we are in the growth of our game and not get caught up in that."

The rise in NBA salaries can be traced to the 1970s when the league competed against the American Basketball Association for players. Harvey Catchings noted that Julius Erving's spectacular play — and by 1970s standards, spectacular salary -- was a catalyst for the NBA/ABA merger.

IF Management's Steve Herz, president of a New York-based sports and media talent agency, said the WNBA needs its own "Dr. J."

"They probably need to catch lightning in a bottle with some incredible athlete who's charismatic like Dr. J or Michael Jordan," Herz said.

No one suggests the WNBA ever will approach the NBA in popularity. On the other hand, Herz said the proliferation of TV channels that need programming favors continued WNBA growth.

"I would never say never," he said.

The Indiana Fever's chief operating officer, Kelly Krauskopf, said the WNBA does not resemble the NBA's business model and cannot support such salaries.

Women's basketball is at least three decades behind the men's game in development, she said.

The WNBA's rookie minimum is $37,260. For the median family in Indiana that earned $45,679 in 2009-10 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the WNBA represents "a pretty darn good living" for a four-month season, Krauskopf said.

Some women players earn significantly more than Catchings in overseas leagues that coincide with the WNBA's off-season. By choice, Catchings rarely played an entire season in a foreign league.

She stays in the United States so she can be close to family, including nieces and nephews, and prolong her basketball career. Her body has betrayed her late in several summers, and she is coming off a foot injury from last season. She has made public service another career, especially with her own foundation.

In 50 years if WNBA players make far more that what Catchings does, she said she would be happy because she would have contributed to that increase.

Players going before her sacrificed so the WNBA could flourish, she said.

"I love what I do. I love playing basketball," Catchings said. "I love the opportunities that I have. I love my teammates. I love traveling. I take all of that.

"You see those commercials about how much certain things cost, and the last one is always priceless? My experience has been priceless."