New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart didn\u2019t mince words when discussing the WNBA\u2019s ongoing labor negotiations, leadership dynamics and the growing tension between players and the league. Stewart, a vice president of the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players\u2019 Association, said she would welcome NBA commissioner Adam Silver stepping directly into the WNBA\u2019s collective bargaining talks, signaling frustration with the current lack of progress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing right now isn\u2019t really getting us anywhere, so if that means that Adam and (NBA deputy commissioner) Mark (Tatum) need to come to the table? We\u2019re more than happy to have that,\u201d Stewart said during a news conference Wednesday ahead of the second season of Unrivaled, the 3\u00d73 league she co-founded.<\/p>\n
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Silver, speaking Tuesday night ahead of the NBA Cup Final in Las Vegas, said<\/a> he has been closely monitoring the talks, and that both he and Tatum are open to participating directly. While WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been a constant at the negotiating table, Engelbert reports up to Silver at the league office, and remains a key player in the discussions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re integrated at the league office,\u201d Silver said. \u201cI talk to the people who are at the negotiating table on a daily basis. As I\u2019ve said before, we \u2014 the NBA, WNBA collective \u2014 acknowledged that our players deserve to be paid significantly more than they have so far based on the increased success of the league, and it\u2019s just a question now of finding a meeting of the minds in terms of what is a fair deal. It\u2019s going to require compromise on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n Stewart pushed back on the idea that compromise hasn\u2019t been offered by players. \u201cWe\u2019re the ones that are willing to compromise, and they still aren\u2019t budging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She warned that negotiations are at a difficult stage, and \u201cif they\u2019re not going to budge, we\u2019re gonna get to this point where we\u2019re just going to be at like a standoff, and that\u2019s kind of where we\u2019re at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The league and players\u2019 association remain in talks after twice extending negotiations beyond the expiration of the previous CBA on Oct. 31. The current deadline is Jan. 9. Both sides have said they want to sign a \u201ctransformational\u201d agreement, which will entail player salaries significantly increasing.<\/p>\n At the heart of the dispute is money \u2014 specifically, the league\u2019s salary system and how league revenue is shared. While both sides agree players deserve substantial raises after years of rapid league growth, they disagree on how revenue should be split and how compensation should be calculated.<\/p>\n As previously reported by The Athletic<\/a>, the union has proposed that players receive roughly 30 percent of total league and team revenue annually. The league\u2019s counterproposal would result in players receiving less than 15 percent of league and team revenue.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Under the union\u2019s proposal, the salary cap would be calculated by taking players\u2019 revenue share from the previous season, subtracting the cost of benefits and dividing the remainder evenly across teams. The league\u2019s proposed system involves a salary cap remaining in place over the course of the agreement, but would see to it that players could receive additional revenue after an end-of-season audit.<\/p>\n Stewart acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the desire to play with the need to be properly valued.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know how important as players it is to play and to be on the court,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cBut at the same time, if we\u2019re 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\u2019re just not going to do something that doesn\u2019t make sense for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Tensions between the league and its players escalated earlier this fall when Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who is also a WNBPA vice president, criticized league leadership<\/a> and revealed comments she said Engelbert made to her earlier this year. Collier said Tuesday that her opinion of league leadership hasn\u2019t changed since her pointed remarks.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, nothing has changed since then, but I feel really confident in our PA (players\u2019 association) and where we are internally with our players,\u201d Collier said. \u201cThe conversation has been had now. People are seeing, I think, that change needs to be had. It\u2019s coming from so many different directions that so many people feel this way, and I think we\u2019re just really excited for the future, and what that has to hold.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll these different leagues popping up \u2014 Unrivaled, our CBA negotiations, like the future just seems so bright,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n