Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
The odds of a 2026 WNBA season taking place took a massive hit on Thursday when an overwhelming majority of the league’s players voted to authorize a strike amid ongoing labor negotiations.
While the vote to authorize a strike did not put the strike into motion quite yet, it does get the wheels moving toward a potential work stoppage.
According to Front Office Sports, the vote included 93 percent participation from players, 98 percent of whom voted to let the WNBPA executive committee call a strike when necessary.
The WNBA Is In Bad Spot In Its Ongoing Labor Negotiations
The move comes after substantial negotiations from both sides regarding a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere.
“The players are still adamant that we get a percentage of revenue that grows with the business, which perhaps includes team revenue, and that’s just a part of the conversation,” WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN after players rejected the latest offer from the league.
Three months later, Ogwumike signed with the upstart Project B league for deal worth seven figures, far north of the WNBA’s current supermax salary of $249,244. Meanwhile, the 3-on-3 Unrivaled league had an average salary of $220,000 in its first season and plans for pay raises across the board in 2026.
That means that Ogwumike, as well as Unrivaled co-owners Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, are each contracted to rival leagues while taking part in WNBA labor negotiations on behalf of the players.
Those deals led to questions of a potential conflict of interest, which Collier attempted to shoot down.
“So let me get this straight…. While everyone else was enjoying fireworks, you were thinking about how me and & Stewie of all people are conspiring to force a lockout that would result in less money year-round for WNBA players??” she wrote.
According to Front Office Sports, WNBA owners offered the players an economic model that would ultimately pay them less than 15 percent of league revenue earlier this month. Players then countered with an offer in the vicinity of 30 percent.
The owners have yet to lock out the players. And the players have yet to move forward with a strike. But anyone who is paying attention knows this is only going to end one way: an ugly work stoppage that could be awful for the growth of women’s basketball long term.