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The stars of the WNBA sent a message to the League before the star match on Saturday evening when the players expressed their frustration in the face of negotiations for a new collective agreement.
The players wore t-shirts that said “pay us what you need” during the warm-ups.
The shirts included the National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) logo.
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Caitlin Clark of Indiana fever wears a shirt that says “pay us what you need” before the WNBA 2025 stars match at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
The match presented the Caitlin Clark team against the Napheesa Collier team. The two players were named captains for the game. The two stars emerged with shirts. Clark did it even if she is sidelined for the match because of a groin injury.
The players met league officials on Thursday and the teams did not conclude an agreement. Chicago Sky star Angel Reese was one of the many WNBA players who expressed their criticism of negotiation management by the League.
“It was a revelation for me. As, hearing things and hearing the language of things and not things that I was happy to hear. It was disrespectful the things we were sent back, the proposal that we were sent back,” she said on Friday.
The Aliyah Boston of Indiana Fever warmed up on Saturday July 19, 2025, before the WNBA stars match in Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith / Indystar / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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“It is important to be able to be vocal. If I sit down, it seems that I don’t care.”
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu said the players were not going to be satisfied with “the minimum” in the negotiations, while Phoenix Mercury Satou Sabarly player called the last CBA of the League a “slap in the face”.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told the Associated Press after the meeting that the meeting was “constructive”.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a press conference before the Basketball match of the WNBA All-Star on Saturday July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (APPO / Michael Conroy)
“It was a very constructive dialogue. I think, you know, obviously, part of the process is to go back and forth and listen to the players. They listen to us and the owners who represent the Council of Governors,” said Engelbert. “I always feel really optimistic that we can do something transformational at the end. But it’s a process.”
