'Pay The Players': WNBA All-Star weekend highlights CBA distance between league, players

INDIANAPOLIS - As the WNBA All-Star game and weekend of festitivies came to an end at Gainbridge Arena at the final buzzer, fans chanted "pay them" and held signs reading 'pay the players' while WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed the crowd.

Players participating in the game wore shirts that had 'pay us what you owe us' printed on them. Some fans wore hats and shirts that read 'pay the players.'

A weekend that in years past has been light-hearted and fan-oriented was flipped to fans being as vocal as players were all weekend about the ongoing collective bargaining agreement conversations.

It all started Thursday when over 40 WNBA players met with the league and Board of Governors to have their first in-person meeting to discuss the CBA that's set to expire at the end of October.

The meeting lasted around two hours with some players sharing their emotions about what went down after the meeting concluded.

“That CBA meeting stressed me out. I got to get my energy back together. I got to go to the room and get me a shot or something,” Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams said after the meeting on the 72-hour StudBudz Twitch stream.

Move to Friday where players participating in All-Star weekend activities had open availability to media. The resounding theme from players was that the meeting really led nowhere.

"To be frank, it was a wasted opportunity," New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said.

The meeting brought players with all levels of experience playing in the WNBA - ranging from rookies to 10+ year veterans.

"[Thursday's] meeting really woke me up to the eyes of we aren't getting what we deserve," Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese said. "Knowing that for a long time - over the years - the numbers that they were giving us, I was like wow. I didn't know all this stuff.

"Me, Paige [Bueckers], Kiki [Iriafen] and Sonia [Citron] were sitting right next to each other. They show us the numbers for 2026-2027. They don't show you the numbers for 2030-2031. My mom told me when I was younger, 'They'll show you the money here but what about the longevity of it?' It's important for us to get what we want now, but not just now but for the future as well."

Wrap things up on Saturday where Engelbert addressed media for the first time over the weekend where she stated that the league had a "productive" meeting with players on Thursday.

"We're engaged in constructive conversations," Engelbert said. "I remain confident we'll reach a new CBA, one that's transformational for the teams, players and owners for the future of our league.

"We want the same things the players want. We want to significantly increase their salary and benefits while balancing with our owners their ability to have a path to profitability as well as continued investment. You see tens of millions of dollars being invested in practice facilities and other player experience by teams. We want to strike the right balance between those two so that can continue."

The current CBA expires on October 31, giving the league and players just a little over three and a half months to come to a resolution before issues can start to arise with an expansion draft and upwards of 80 percent of the league veterans being free agents.

The expansion draft - based on precedent - takes place in December with free agency conversations beginning in mid-January followed by contract signings in February.

All-Star weekend did have its moments of fun, fan love and entertainment as it does every year with activations, meet-and-greets, autograph signings, contests and speaking events.

However, there is a chance that this may not happen in 2026 if the league and players cannot come to an agreement in a timely manner where general managers can start building rosters, and a season can begin.

The WNBA CBA puzzle just got dumped out of the box, and time is ticking. Can it get solved in time to avoid a lockout?

We will see.

Tune in for new episodes of Courtside with Karli Bell every Monday.