{"id":514953,"date":"2026-03-05T01:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514953\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T01:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T01:48:08","slug":"wnba-players-still-unified-stewart-says-as-cba-talks-continue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/514953\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA players still unified, Stewart says, as CBA talks continue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart chases down a loose ball during semi-final play in the Unrivaled league on Monday in New York.Frank Franklin Ii\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart, who teamed with fellow WNBA star Kelsey Plum on a letter to the players\u2019 association this week expressing concerns about the state of labour talks with the league, said Wednesday she feels better about where things stand and is convinced players are still unified in what they want in the next collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

And the union, later Wednesday, released a statement saying the league\u2019s latest offer \u201cis not worth taking\u201d \u2013 with less than a week remaining until the deadline for getting a deal done and preserving a full 2026 WNBA season.<\/p>\n

Stewart was part of a call with other members of the players\u2019 executive committee on Tuesday night, hours after the letter that she and Plum wrote to WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson \u2013 one where they expressed \u201cserious concerns about how [the union] is handling the current negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several media outlets, including The Associated Press, obtained copies of the letter, which was dated Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe call made me feel better,\u201d Stewart told AP, speaking after her Mist team finished its final shootaround practice in advance of Wednesday night\u2019s Unrivaled championship game against the Phantom team that features Plum.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes hard conversations need to be had. I felt better after it and know that we finished that call understanding that we\u2019re representing the larger body [of players] and we have work to be done and we\u2019re going to do that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union \u2013 in a statement from its executive committee, of which Stewart and Plum are members \u2013 echoed Stewart\u2019s comments in its statement, saying it remains \u201cunited and focused on delivering a transformational CBA … and are committed to negotiating for as long as it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is obvious urgency to get a deal done.<\/p>\n

The WNBA has told the players\u2019 union that it needs to get a deal in place by this coming Tuesday to start the season on time. That would allow the new CBA to be written and signed by the end of the month, which would in theory be followed by expansion drafts for the new franchises in Portland and Toronto during the first week of April. Free agency would follow, signings could start on April 12, training camps would open about a week later and the season would begin May 8.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kelsey Plum (10) drives past Vinyl BC guard Erica Wheeler (17) during semi-final play in the Unrivaled league on Monday in New York.Frank Franklin Ii\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

The league and the players have been unable to reach a new collective bargaining agreement since the union opted out of the previous deal.<\/p>\n

Stewart and Plum are in unique roles; both are vice presidents of the players\u2019 association, both are among the biggest names in women\u2019s basketball, and both have been dealing with the CBA uncertainty while on Unrivaled playoff runs with their clubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always approached anything in life, any adversity, by staying in the game,\u201d Plum said after shootaround Wednesday, when asked about simultaneously dealing with an Unrivaled title push amid the WNBA\u2019s labour uncertainty. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a human being. It\u2019s hard. I definitely have moments, but at the end of the day, I know my heart. I know I\u2019m super excited about [Wednesday\u2019s game], and when you work all year for something, you want to finish it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Stewart: \u201cWe\u2019ve been in CBA negotiations for more than just the past two weeks. It\u2019s been 17, 18 months. I don\u2019t know exactly how long. And to be able to compartmentalize that hasn\u2019t been easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the letter, Stewart and Plum said WNBA players \u201care at one of the most consequential moments in the history of this league\u201d and called upon Jackson to provide many things, including a detailed breakdown of the WNBA\u2019s expenses and revenue; analysis between the potential losses players would face in a delayed or strike-shortened season vs. the gains that could be earned through a new CBA; player opinions on the WNBA\u2019s latest proposal; clarity on the rookie salary scale; an explanation of what Jackson thinks the executive committee\u2019s \u201crole and responsibilities should be in this process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart said it wasn\u2019t her intention for the letter to get out publicly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a letter that was meant for Terri, and for the EC, for us to really have a conversation and stay strong in all the things that we\u2019re negotiating, and I believe that we are,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cWe are still unified and understanding what we\u2019re fighting for and that\u2019s the messaging that we had on our call last night. … Our main goal is to make sure that we have the best possible deal for all players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Breanna Stewart chases down a loose ball during semi-final play in the Unrivaled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,630,883,913],"class_list":["post-514953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-wnba","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514953","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=514953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}