© Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
In Mid-December, WNBA players voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike, if need be, in the face of ongoing labor negotiations with the league. Now, with the 2026 season in serious jeopardy, it sounds as if the players have walked back talk of a potential strike.
“I want to play, and players want to play,” WNBPA vice president Kelsey Plum said on Monday. “Obviously, we’re going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get this done in a timely fashion. But obviously, a strike would be the worst thing for both sides.”
Players had been pushing for a significantly larger share of the league’s revenue in its next collective bargaining agreement. However, the league wasn’t offering anywhere near what players had asked for.
Plum, and the players she represents, are beginning to realize the implications of a potential missed season in 2026.
“Because we are in a revenue [share system], so no revenue, no revenue to share,” she said.
WNBPA’s New Stance Represents A Significant About-Face
The WNBA preseason is scheduled to begin on April 25, giving the league and players less than two months to come to an agreement.
Plum’s latest comments represent a far cry from the stance of players over most of the last year.
“Yeah, the CBA is coming up. We deserve more. Everybody, everybody. But we have to face the consequences? The women coming in next year are probably gonna be making more than us,” Chicago Sky star Angel Reese said last March regarding potential strike. “I gotta get in the meetings. Because I’m hearing… If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out.”
Unfortunately for the overwhelming majority of players, sitting out isn’t really an option financially.
Are there some concessions the league and owners could and probably should make? Absolutely. But right now, they hold significantly more leverage than the players do, and it appears that reality is beginning to sink in as the season nears.