The WNBA All-Star game in Indianapolis should be a pivotal moment in the history of the WNBA. But besides for the fact that the main attraction of the entire event, Caitlin Clark will probably not be participating in the STARRY 3-Point Contest or Saturday’s All-Star Game, reports say there’s a growing threat that the 2026 season is in jeopardy because the WNBPA and the league are far apart in CBA negotiations, which isn’t surprising at all.
WNBA Facing Threat Of Player’s Strike: Angel Reese Says they Won’t Stop Until They Are Satisfied
The current Collective Bargaining Agreement was set to run through 2027, but both the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association agreed to opt out in October 2024. With the CBA now set to expire on October 31, 2025, negotiations are reportedly at a complete stalemate.
During WNBA Media Day leading into the All-Star game on July 19th, Angel Reese was asked about the current CBA negotiations. Reese, has just recently started attending the meetings and was vey vocal about where the players stand at this point.
Said Reese: “It’s bigger than me. … We’re not gonna stop until we get what we want, and yesterday’s meeting really woke me up to the eyes of we aren’t getting what we deserve.”
“This is for the next generation,” Reese stated. “It’s important to be able to be vocal. If I sit back, it looks like I don’t care. I know my voice and I know my platform. You love it or you hate it, I know it gets views. So I just know that I had to be vocal. I have to sit at that table one day.”
On Tuesday, New York Post reporter Madeline Kenney expressed that WNBA players are “bracing” for a possible work stoppage ahead of the 2026 season.
In addition to Reese’s latest demands, other leading voices among players, such as New York Liberty star guard Sabrina Ionescu, recently sent a direct message:
“We’re not just going to take the minimum because it’s more than we’re making now.”
Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally, who is not attending the All-Star game because she’s nursing an ankle injury, called the league’s initial offer a “slap in the face,”
The players feel like the league’s growing in popularity and they want to capitalize on all of the momentum made in a short amount of time because the WNBA has never been more discussed among sports fans.
Angel Reese Warned Of Potential Work Stoppage On Her Popular Podcast
This isn’t the first time Reese has taken a hard stance publicly about what WNBA players think they deserve in these negotiations. Back in March, the Chicago Sky star was discussing some of the talks between players and said that there have been rumblings of a strike if negotiations go south.
“I gotta get in the meetings because I’m hearing, if y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out,” Reese said on her ‘Unapologetically Angel’ podcast back in March.
“That’s a possibility,” Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington replied. “For real.”
According to Carrington, who has been in the meetings, she confirmed Reese’s prediction that players will undoubtedly be looking for a significant pay bump in the new CBA because, as Reese pointed out on the podcast, the 2026 rookies will immediately make more than her before stepping onto a WNBA court.
“The ones coming in this year will be on the rookie contract again,” Reese said. “The ones in the year after, they’re gonna be making more than us.”
Team expansion is also a problem, because with the WNBA planning to add new teams in Toronto, Detroit, Portland and Cleveland and Philadelphia by 2030, that’s more players to share the pot with. A pot that has already been considered an insult by the players and got smaller last season when the Golden State Valkyries joined the league.
Much Is At Stake
With record-breaking viewership and attendance across the league drawing crowds that force games to be moved to NBA arenas and venues that can accommodate the league’s new stars, also an increase in media coverage to go along with a $2B cut from the NBA’s $76M media rights deal,
WNBA players and fans have always complained about the low salaries that the league’s players make. Despite the fact that the league has lost millions each season and even with the “Caitlin Clark Effect,” is losing money, this is the moment many hoped the league had been building toward.
Players feel like the time is ripe for a significant boost in compensation. But if no new deal is reached in time, the 2026 season could be in jeopardy. A work stoppage wouldn’t be beneficial to the league or the players at this time, but with only 108 days until the opt-out deadline, fans and players alike are hoping to make quicker gains in negotiations.
WNBPA Director Says Players Are Digging In For Long Battle
Clark’s injury, the slow CBA talks and this upcoming All-Star game is a kettle brewing. Back in May, when the WNBA was at the height of its new interest, Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) director Terri Jackson emphasized the union’s readiness to negotiate “as long as it takes” to secure a fair deal. Even if it means a potential strike could cripple a league that has reportedly never made a profit.
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“There’s no better moment than right now for women’s sports, and particularly for women’s basketball and particularly for us,” Jackson said, according to the New York Post. “So are we seizing on every level? Absolutely.”
Fighting for what’s right isn’t always what’s fiscally possible. The league has its financial plan all laid out. If reports are true, that the league has lost an average of $40M per year and is still losing money after the most transformative period in its 29-year history, how much of an increase can the players expect. The future of the WNBA – talent wise and personality wise – is in great shape as more Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese-type of captivating talents are set to pour into the league over the next five seasons.
It’s important for the league to have the financial structure and stability to be able to properly compensate these transcending stars. Those on social media who separate the emotion from the money don’t feel that a strike would be beneficial to the players at this time.
Social Media Blasts WNBA Players For Strike Talks
‘The WNBA has never one year ever made a profit. The league has not made a single penny above operating costs. EVER,” said one fan.
‘Lost $50 million last season, and you want more money? The men are already subsidizing your entire league. You want to take more from them than you already are? Thats weak and pathetic. Truly. You look like a weak gold digger right now,’ added another fan.
‘Salaries rise with profits and ya ain’t got none. The NBA still subsidizes the WNBA,” added a third fan, who wanted to bring some financial clarity to the potential bold work stoppage in 2026.
Another fan was only interested in hearing from the league’s cash cow, Caitlin Clark, as far as deciding on a player’s strike in the future.
‘Lmao “we sitting out” the only person is Caitlin Clark that can make that call. How are yall demanding some shit you’re not even responsible for?!? The owners would laugh in your face
WNBA Players Feel Work Stoppage Is A Risk Worth Taking In 2026
The players have wanted higher salaries for some time and the incremental progress made in the prior CBA hasn’t been producing the upgrades they want. With several veterans on the way out and new blood pouring in, a potential strike appears to be the only way that the players can show they are serious and also hurt the pockets of the people they are trying to get more money from.
To many of them, it’s a risk worth taking no matter how delusional some believe they are being. Striking while the iron is hot is what these negotiations are all about. Taking risks is also a part of tough negotiations. The only leverage the players have, is to strike, and doing it when you are at your most profitable state is the best time to swing for the fences.
