Napheesa Collier is the latest star to come out in support of higher WNBA salaries.
The WNBA star and Unrivaled co-founder has offered her verdict on the current WNBA collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations amid controversy surrounding Angel Reese’s remarks.
Reese was the subject of intense social media scrutiny after she threatened to boycott future WNBA games if the league does not meet player demands regarding salaries.
The WNBA is currently in talks with the Women’s National Basketball Player Association (WNBPA) over a new CBA.
The union is looking to drastically increase salaries for its players as right now a minimum WNBA contract stands at $64,154 per year.
By comparison, Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league between many of the WNBA’s top stars, has committed to paying its players an average salary of more than $220,000.
Negotiations began after the WNBA enjoyed a record-breaking season last year as revenue dramatically increased amid unprecedented viewership and attendance levels.
It led to the WNBA securing a new 11-year media rights deal Wednesday with Disney, Amazon Prime Video and new rights holder NBCUniversal.
The deal is valued at about $2.2 billion, or $200 million per year.
A new CBA is therefore required to reflect increased revenues and increase player salaries.
This new CBA is set to go into effect for the 2026 season and Reese said on her ‘Unapologtically Angel’ podcast that players could skip games if negotiations fall apart.
“If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out,” she said, while talking to fellow WNBA player Dijonai Carrington.
Reese went on to say that players ‘deserve more,’ as young All-Stars like her and rival Caitlin Clark make just five-figure salaries.
Reese is on a four-year $324,383 rookie scale contract and is set to make just under $75,000 in 2025.
Now Collier is the latest star to suggest a boycott could be on the cards, claiming players are prepared for anything if negotiations were to fall apart.
“You’re seeing the power shift to the players,” Collier said in her interview with on CBS’ “We Need to Talk Now” show
“For us right now, it’s such a power that we hold that I think we need to use correctly, again in our CBA negotiations.
“We’re not asking for the same salaries as the men, we’re asking for the same revenue shares.”
Collier is correct in calling out in the revenue sharing difference between the WNBA and NBA.
In the NBA, players receive about a 50 percent cut of all basketball related income, but in the WNBA the players only get 10 percent, per former All-Star Chiney Ogwumike.
Collier went on to add that “‘no one wants’ a lockout,” but players are “prepared for any possibility right now.”
The WNBPA and the WNBA have until October 31 to come to terms on a new CBA.
For now, stars like Collier and Reese will continue on their current deals, but there is hope that by 2026, every WNBA star is in line for a huge pay rise.
