Overview
- - The league’s latest counter, delivered Sunday, lifts the 2026 team cap to about $5.75 million and speeds max eligibility for rookie-scale stars, including All-WNBA selections becoming max-eligible in Year 4 and MVPs qualifying for a supermax without core rights.
- - The core impasse remains revenue sharing, with players seeking roughly 26% of gross revenue and the league offering about 70% of net revenue, a structure independent reporting estimates equals less than 15% of gross.
- - Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart said a strike would be the worst outcome as both sides work under a revenue-share framework, though union leaders stressed talks must still improve key terms.
- - Paige Bueckers described negotiations as stalled, and players voiced concern that mid-tier salaries and phased-out housing—full team housing in 2026 narrowing to developmental players by 2028—would squeeze the league’s middle class.
- - Internal pressures intensified as Plum and Stewart sent a letter to WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson seeking greater transparency and involvement, following a separate agents’ request to review proposals under NDAs.