DURHAM, N.C. \u2014 Although the WNBA and players\u2019 union remain divided in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, star players at the Team USA training camp, including Caitlin Clark, said they\u2019re hopeful the 2026 season can be fully salvaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the biggest moment the WNBA has ever seen, and it\u2019s not something that can be messed up, and we\u2019re going to fight for everything that we deserve,\u201d Clark said Friday<\/a> at her first Team USA camp at Duke. \u201cAt the same time, we need to play basketball. That\u2019s what our fans crave, and that\u2019s what all of you crave as well, is you want the product on the floor. At the end of the day, that\u2019s how you make the money.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that we find a way to play this next season,\u201d Clark said. \u201cOur fans and even everybody that has played in this league that has come before us deserve that as well.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I can\u2019t speak to every number; it\u2019s pretty complicated, but I think there are different things that we can find ways to say, \u2018No, we certainly deserve that, and we\u2019re not going to compromise on that.\u2019 And then other things that we can probably compromise on.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark and a younger cohort of players aren\u2019t on the front lines of the CBA fight, even though the young stars recognize the gravity of the situation. Clark is constantly in the ear of the Indiana player representatives, Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull, as well as Fever veteran Brianna Turner, the treasurer of the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association executive committee. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese<\/a> has regularly attended Zoom union meetings, and reigning rookie of the year Paige Bueckers has been educating herself on the specifics of the negotiations.<\/p>\n The trio emphasized the continued need for solidarity as players attempt to secure their stake in the growing WNBA business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s continued negotiations, as you guys know, but we\u2019re pretty firm on what we believe and what we stand for \u2026 in what we believe that we have earned, and the people before us have earned,\u201d Bueckers said.<\/p>\n The presence of so many young players at the USAB camp is a visual reminder of who the union is fighting for. While much of the WNBPA leadership is in the latter stages of their careers, including president Nneka Ogwumike and vice president Alysha Clark, 10 first-time attendees on the senior national team stand to benefit the most from a shake-up to the WNBA\u2019s economic model.<\/p>\n Clark, Bueckers, Reese, Boston, Cameron Brink, Sonia Citron and Rickea Jackson are on rookie contracts, while Lauren Betts (UCLA) and JuJu Watkins (USC) are still in college. The new CBA will dramatically affect their financial futures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe young and turnt crew is what we\u2019re fighting for,\u201d Reese said. \u201cThe vets have done a great job being able to speak up for us and do a lot of things. Nneka (Ogwumike), Satou (Sabally), (Napheesa Collier). All of them have done a great job, and they\u2019re doing it for our generation, for the next to come.\u201d<\/p>\n