{"id":446657,"date":"2026-02-01T05:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/446657\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T05:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T05:57:22","slug":"natasha-cloud-has-stern-warning-for-wnba-with-tense-cba-talk-set-to-resume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/446657\/","title":{"rendered":"Natasha Cloud has stern warning for WNBA with tense CBA talk set to resume"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 A potential strike looms, players\u2019 frustrations and concerns are brewing, and the WNBA collective bargaining agreement negotiations are stuck at an impasse. That\u2019s why several star players, as well as league and union officials, are scheduled to meet in New York on Monday to discuss CBA matters.<\/p>\n

WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike and other key union leadership, members including Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier, are among the players scheduled to attend. Other WNBPA leadership, the WNBA\u2019s labor relations committee, some owners and members of the league\u2019s Board of Governors are expected to participate in the high-stakes, in-person meeting that some believe could be an inflection point in negotiations.<\/p>\n

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Regardless of what happens Monday, eight-year WNBA veteran Azura Stevens said she\u2019s \u201cprepared to\u201d strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the league wants to play around, and we don\u2019t have a CBA, I have money. I\u2019m getting paid from Unrivaled, and I have other revenues of income as well,\u201d Stevens said Friday after shootaround ahead of Unrivaled\u2019s tour stop in Philadelphia<\/a>. \u201cSo, it\u2019s really their loss. So, that\u2019s why I think that it\u2019s just ridiculous that they\u2019ve dragged it on this long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league has yet to respond to a proposal submitted by the union more than 30 days ago. Part of the reason why the WNBA hasn\u2019t engaged in the response is the league is waiting for a more \u201crealistic\u201d proposal, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n

With the 2026 season scheduled to start in fewer than 100 days, some players are irked by the lack of progress.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m just kind of upset, frustrated \u2014 all of us,\u201d said veteran guard Natasha Cloud, who didn\u2019t hold back her emotions. \u201cAnd in a lot of ways, just, like, disgusted with The W and how they\u2019re handling this and their lack of value, their lack of worth for us, their lack of even trying to attempt to move the needle with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union has been bracing for a potential strike since players opted out of the former CBA after the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

But the uncertainty regarding the WNBA\u2019s near future has some players on edge, including Sug Sutton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a level of concern, a level of unknown, and I don\u2019t like to be in that position,\u201d said Sutton, who was signed to a veteran minimum contract in 2025. \u201cSo just trying to take it day by day. Being at Unrivaled has helped with the mental part with the W and everything that\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The current CBA expired Jan. 9 after the sides failed to reach a deal or agree to a third extension.<\/p>\n

\"Natasha<\/p>\n

Natasha Cloud #15 of the Phantom drives against Chelsea Gray #12 of the Rose. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The WNBA is operating in status quo, which is why the 2026 schedule was released last week<\/a>. A moratorium, though, has put free agency on hold indefinitely.<\/p>\n

In the latest known proposal, the WNBA has offered players 70 percent of the net revenue share, which equates to roughly 15 percent of gross league and team revenue, and a $5 million salary cap. But players are seeking roughly 30 percent of gross revenue as well as a $10.5 million salary cap.<\/p>\n

The union also is fighting to remove the core designation and to keep team-funded housing \u2014 which the league has proposed taking away \u2014 among other things.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a few things that, you know, can stress players out, in a sense,\u201d Sutton said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why I said, like, there\u2019s so much unknown and uncertainty with what\u2019s going on in the league and the CBA, but we\u2019re just hoping for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cloud sat in a chair up against the back wall of the press conference room Friday afternoon. While other players had dispersed, Cloud continued on, and her emphatic answer to The Post\u2019s CBA question commanded the attention of the room.<\/p>\n

\"Sug<\/p>\n

Sug Sutton #1 of the Rose passes the ball ahead of Aaliyah Edwards #8 of the Lunar Owls. Getty Images<\/p>\n

She said players are adamant about what they\u2019re fighting for in this new deal.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what is on the horizon,\u201d she continued. \u201cThere\u2019s a new TV deal that\u2019s going to come that they\u2019re not even putting on the table for us. The percentages, if we actually told you the percentages of what they\u2019re giving, that they\u2019re sending to us, it would absolutely piss y\u2019all off.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cloud then looked directly into a local TV camera and said, \u201cWe will not f\u2014ing move until y\u2019all move. \u2026 So, the pressure is on the WNBA, on Cathy [Engelbert, WNBA commissioner], on Adam [Silver, NBA commissioner], on everyone that is in that front office. You do your job, negotiate, and pay your people, your players, your workers. This is a major corporation thing here in our country right now. So, pay the people that make your s\u2013t go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plum remains optimistic a deal can be reached and the season won\u2019t be delayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t necessarily have expectations for outcomes [of Monday\u2019s meeting],\u201d Plum said. \u201cThe thing is just sitting down and understanding the relationship and conversation is No. 1 because, let\u2019s be real, when we play telephone with people in our own lives, a lot of times things can get scattered, right? So to be able to sit down face to face and say, \u2018This is how I feel, this is how you feel. Let\u2019s see what we can go from there.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 A potential strike looms, players\u2019 frustrations and concerns are brewing, and the WNBA collective bargaining agreement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[9001,15456,38382,49,48,4233,12199,631,729,4651,4653,82,171083,35091,4646,630],"class_list":["post-446657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aaliyah-edwards","tag-agreement-negotiations","tag-azura-stevens","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cba","tag-chelsea-gray","tag-kelsey-plum","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-natasha-cloud","tag-nneka-ogwumike","tag-sports","tag-star-players","tag-sug-sutton","tag-unrivaled","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}