WNBA All-Stars make statement with warmup shirts over CBA

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — All of the players on Team Clark and Team Collier warmed up for Saturday night’s WNBA All-Star Game in shirts that read “Pay us what you owe us.”

The shirts come after the players and the league failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement at an in-person meeting Thursday. The league’s players opted out of their last CBA in October, and are looking for a better revenue-sharing model, increased salaries, improved benefits and a softer salary cap.

“I’m just so inspired by the amount of players that showed up, the engagement that was there,” WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike said. “That’s really what it’s all about. Because the more that happens, the more that we’re going to be able to get things done. I think today we’re going to be able to use this conversation to start rolling the ball on things.”

After the failed negotiations, many players said there was a large discrepancy between what they wanted and what the league was offering. If a new CBA is not reached by October some players, including All-Stars Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese, have mentioned the potential of a walkout.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball