{"id":402392,"date":"2026-01-11T10:41:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T10:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402392\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T10:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T10:41:30","slug":"breanna-stewart-says-new-wnba-cba-wont-be-reached-by-deadline-updates-potential-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/402392\/","title":{"rendered":"Breanna Stewart Says New WNBA CBA Won’t Be Reached by Deadline, Updates Potential Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart said Thursday she doesn’t expect the WNBA and players to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement by Friday’s deadline, per Madeline Kenney<\/a> of the New York Post.<\/p>\n

“We’re not coming to an agreement by tomorrow. I can tell you that,” Stewart said, per Kenney.<\/p>\n

Stewart also said there would not be another extension of the negotiating deadline, according to Kenney.<\/p>\n

Negotiations between the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association have already been extended twice.<\/p>\n

The initial deadline was set for Oct. 31 before talks were extended<\/a> through Nov. 30 and then until Jan. 9.<\/p>\n

According to Kenney, Stewart said players will continue negotiating in good faith.<\/p>\n

The WNBA and players’ association could still continue talks past the Jan. 9 deadline. <\/p>\n

As previously reported by ESPN<\/a>, the deadline passing without an extension will start a “status quo” period during which the previous CBA is still upheld.<\/p>\n

That period will also open up the possibility of a work stoppage through a player-led strike or owner-led lockout, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n

The WNBPA announced<\/a> on Dec. 18 that players had voted to authorize the WNBPA Executive Committee “to call a strike when necessary.”<\/p>\n

The executive committee is staffed by Stewart in addition to Nneka Ogwumike, Kelsey Plum, Elizabeth Williams, Brianna Turner, Alysha Clark and Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n

The vote to hand the decision to strike over to those seven players received 98 percent support, with 93 percent of players participating, according to WNBPA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Time and again, the players’ thoughtful and reasonable approach has been met by the WNBA and its teams with a resistance to change and a recommitment to the draconian provisions that have unfairly restricted players for nearly three decades,” the WNBPA said at the time.<\/p>\n

The WNBPA noted the vote was “neither a call for an immediate strike nor an intention to pursue one.”<\/p>\n

The WNBA criticized that vote in a response<\/a>, in which the league said it was “proposing numerous CBA modifications including significant immediate salary increases and a new uncapped revenue-sharing model that would ensure continued salary growth tied to revenue growth.”<\/p>\n

The WNBA has never missed time due to a work stoppage. The 2026 WNBA draft is scheduled for April 13. Other key dates for the upcoming season, including free agency periods and expansion drafts for the two expansion teams joining the league from Portland and Toronto, have yet to be set.<\/p>\n