{"id":38264,"date":"2025-08-01T01:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T01:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38264\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T01:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T01:50:09","slug":"candace-parker-rips-wnba-players-efforts-in-all-star-game-after-pay-us-what-you-owe-us-shirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/38264\/","title":{"rendered":"Candace Parker rips WNBA players\u2019 efforts in All-Star Game after \u2018Pay Us What You Owe Us\u2019 shirts"},"content":{"rendered":"

WNBA legend Candace Parker wasn\u2019t impressed with the players\u2019 performances in this month\u2019s All-Star Game after they wore shirts during pregame warm-ups<\/a> that said \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us,\u201d to reflect their desire for higher salaries in the new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cY\u2019all cannot come out there with those shirts of \u2018Pay Us What You Owe Us,\u2019 and then do that in the All-Star Game,\u201d Parker said on Wednesday\u2019s debut episode<\/a> of her \u201cPost Moves\u201d podcast with Indiana Fever forward Aliyah Boston.<\/p>\n

Parker was referring to Team Collier\u2019s lopsided 151-131 victory over Team Clark. It was an underwhelming game compared to last year\u2019s exhibition between Team USA and the WNBA All-Stars. The 2024 game, which Team WNBA won 117-109, was far more competitive and served as an important tune-up for the U.S. Olympic team before the Paris Games.<\/p>\n

However, Boston defended the players\u2019 efforts, citing the quick turnaround between the All-Star Game and the second half of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come out every single night and we show why we deserve the money we deserve,\u201d Boston said. \u201cAn All-Star Game, where we have another game in two days, I think that it\u2019s OK to just go out there and hoop and have some fun. Because on Tuesday, we were back at it, and we were playing and we were showing once again why we deserve to get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WNBA All-Stars came out wearing warmup shirts that said, “Pay Us What You Owe Us.”<\/p>\n

The players’ union met with the WNBA Thursday and came away frustrated with the economic model proposed by the league.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfa5 @AliyahFun<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rtM3cckEvm<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 20, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Parker, a seven-time WNBA All-Star, doubled down on her stance and said the shirts\u2019 message would have resonated more if the game had been better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t the fact that you\u2019re doing something to prove why you have to be paid,\u201d Parker said. \u201cI think it was just an opportunity, to me, on one of the biggest stages, with those shirts being worn \u2014 everyone always talks about how the NBA does not play in All-Star Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut guess what? They come down, they do windmills, they do stuff like that, right? Women, I understand that it is challenging. You all were added four to five games more this season without compensation, which is not fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker continued: \u201cBut I think on one of the biggest stages, with people tuned in, in an All-Star setting that was invested in more than any other All-Star Game previously, without Caitlin Clark \u2026 It was an added opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker said she couldn\u2019t watch the entire All-Star Game because it was boring.<\/p>\n

Despite the lopsided result, the \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d shirts still resonated with fans, who drowned out WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert\u2019s voice chanting \u201cPay Them!\u201d as she presented Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier with the MVP trophy after the game.<\/p>\n

The players had a breakfast meeting the morning of the All-Star Game and collectively decided to wear the shirts amid the labor uncertainty. The league and the players\u2019 union remain far apart in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, with the current one set to expire on Oct. 31.<\/p>\n

After years of fighting an existential battle for the league\u2019s survival, WNBA players enter this bargaining cycle with a rare power: leverage. The league is generating record revenue, it\u2019s expanding and it\u2019s become part of the national consciousness.<\/p>\n

Now the players feel it\u2019s time to benefit from what they have brought to the table. They want a business model that allows them to share in the WNBA\u2019s growth and direct more of the revenue towards salaries and player experience.<\/p>\n

The league is in a period of growth, as Engelbert illuminated in her annual midseason address, with dramatic rises in TV viewership, game attendance and merchandise sales in recent years. Money is pouring into the WNBA \u2014 via media rights, expansion fees and other avenues \u2014 but players need to secure a piece of the growing business before the league enters a sustainability mode.<\/p>\n

(Photo: Elsa \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n