The WNBA is proposing a 30-day extension to players to continue collective bargaining negotiations, according to ESPN.
The current CBA expires Friday.
Negotiations were also extended during previous discussions in 2019, when both sides agreed to a 60-day extension before eventually signing a deal in January 2020.
However, although players might be willing to extend negotiations and avoid a lockout “under the right circumstances,” they feel “those circumstances do not yet exist,” according to ESPN.
Further, the senior adviser and legal counsel to the players’ association, Erin D. Drake, recently told the “No Offseason” podcast that there won’t be an agreement by the Halloween deadline, criticizing the league for not matching the PA’s efforts.
The WNBA, on the other hand, said it made a proposal Oct. 1, and that the PA responded Monday.
Talks of a potential extension come amid rising tension between the two sides, with the main point of contention being a model for salaries and revenue distribution. The league has accused the players of not engaging “in any meaningful way” on its proposals, while the PA has said the league has “retread a system that isn’t tied to any part of the business and intentionally undervalues the players.”
WNBA players were also very critical of commissioner Cathy Engelbert this past season, with Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier calling the league’s leadership “the worst in the world” during a scathing exit interview last month. She also criticized Engelbert’s lack of relationship with the players. Collier received support for her comments from WNBAPA president Nneka Ogwumike and Elizabeth Williams, a member of the union’s executive committee.
A lockout could have an outsized impact on the league’s newest franchises, the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire. An expansion draft, including details such as rules and dates, will be on hold until the finalization of a new CBA.
–Field Level Media
