New York Liberty All-Star forward Breanna Stewart said she would welcome NBA commissioner Adam Silver joining the collective bargaining negotiations with the WNBA because ‘what we’re doing right now isn’t really working.’
Silver said Tuesday night he’s been monitoring the protracted negotiations, and would be willing to join the talks in hopes of getting a deal done that would avoid a lockout or a strike. The WNBA and the players association are at a standoff, and have twice extended the deadline for reaching a new deal after the previous CBA expired Oct. 31.
The current deadline is Jan. 9.
‘More often than not, we’re the ones that are willing to compromise and they still aren’t budging,’ Stewart, who is a vice president on the WNBPA’s executive committee, said of the talks. ‘So if they’re not going to budge, we’re going to get to this point where we’re just going to be at a standoff. That’s kind of where we’re at right now.’
The largest sticking point in the negotiations is money. Specifically, salaries and revenue sharing. While Silver and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert agree WNBA players deserve a significant increase following several years of skyrocketing growth, players say the league continues to expect them to take less than their worth.
According to The Athletic, the league has offered revenue sharing at 15% while the union has proposed 30%. The sides also differ on how that percentage, as well as the salary cap, would be calculated.
‘We know how important as players it is to play and to be on the court,’ Stewart said. ‘But at the same time, if we’re not going to be valued the way that we know we should be, in the way that every kind of number situation tells us, then we’re just not going to do something that doesn’t make sense for us.’
The relationship between Engelbert and the players was greatly damaged, possibly beyond repair, after Napheesa Collier shared demeaning comments she said Engelbert made during a conversation they had earlier in the year. Collier, who like Stewart is an executive committee vice president, said Engelbert told her ‘players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’
Collier also said Engelbert dismissed the greater visibility Caitlin Clark brought to the WNBA, saying the NCAA’s all-time scoring leader ‘wouldn’t make anything’ without the WNBA’s platform.
‘Everybody can agree and get what they want out of this, but there has to be some … things in common happening first,’ Stewart said. ‘So yeah, if Adam wants to come, I would love to have him.’
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