MIAMI — The ongoing WNBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations were the topic of discussion among players Saturday on the bus ride to the Heat’s practice facility for USA Basketball practice.
The main point?
“Just that we haven’t solved any issues,” Caitlin Clark said after practice. “I feel like the conversations get very heavy at times.”
The WNBA highlighted Tuesday as a soft deadline for when the league and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association must agree to terms on a deal or risk delayed start to the 2026 season.
Clark said she remains “confident” that the two sides will eventually find common ground.
Meanwhile, Breanna Stewart said she is uncertain whether the upcoming season will start on time.
“Honestly, I’m 50/50,” she said. “I just think it’ll be tight. And hopefully, we do come to a resolution sooner than later.”
The WNBA and players union remain at odds over revenue share percentages, salary cap, core designation and league prioritization, among other things.
The two sides have a $3.5 million difference in projected 2026 salary caps and are roughly 11 percent apart on revenue share.
Negotiations have intensified in recent weeks after the league waited about six weeks to respond to the WNBA’s proposal at the end of last year.
Clark said she wasn’t sure whether sending proposals back and forth every few days was “the greatest solution.”
“I don’t understand why we don’t just get in a room and iron it out and shake hands,” Clark said. “That’s how business is. You look each other in the eye, you shake hands, you respect both sides. For me, that’s what I would love to see. Obviously, I understand everybody has different schedules. Everybody is in a million places in the world, but we’re really down to less than a week. We need to get face-to-face and we need to make some decisions and find out what really needs to happen to get it done.”
For weeks, Stewart has been campaigning for the WNBA and WNBPA to meet in person to hash out details of a new contract.
She said she would be willing to meet at the table if it’s necessary.
“If that means sitting in there for hours and hours at a time, like, let’s do it,” Stewart said. “We want the deal to be done, we want to have the season. We just need to find the right numbers that reflect it and I’m good with it. I’m going back to New York [on] Sunday, so I’m available.”
FIBA women’s basketball action will be more accessible than ever before thanks to a multiyear partnership inked this week between TNT Sports and the International Basketball Federation.
The USA Basketball games in next week’s FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Puerto Rico will be aired on truTV and HBO Max, starting with Wednesday’s game against Senegal.
Before the news broke, Clark had been stumped when people asked her how they could watch her in her senior national team debut.
“I’m super excited,” said Clark, who remembers the struggle of trying to find ways to watch USA Basketball games growing up. “I think the more eyeballs we can get on the game, the better and obviously there’s certainly a demand for it and that’s why TNT is doing it.”
