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WNBA stars fired off a message to the league before the All-Star Game Saturday night when players expressed frustration with negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.
The players wore T-shirts that said “Pay Us What You Owe Us” during warmups.
The shirts included the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) logo.
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Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever wears a shirt that says “Pay us what you owe us” before the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The game featured Team Caitlin Clark against Team Napheesa Collier. Both players were named captains for the game. Both of the All-Stars emerged wearing the shirts. Clark did so even though she is sidelined for the game because of a groin injury.
The players met with league officials Thursday, and the sides did not reach a deal. Chicago Sky star Angel Reese was one of many WNBA players who have expressed criticism of the league’s handling of negotiations.
“It was an eye-opener for me. Like, hearing the things and hearing the language of things and not things that I was happy to hear. It was disrespectful the things that we were sent back, the proposal that we were sent back,” she said Friday.
The Indiana Fever’s Aliyah Boston warms up Saturday, July 19, 2025, ahead of the WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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“It’s important to be able to be vocal. If I sit back, it looks like I don’t care.”
New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu said the players weren’t going to settle for “the minimum” in negotiations, while Phoenix Mercury player Satou Sabally called the league’s latest CBA offer 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 news conference before the WNBA All-Star basketball game Saturday, July 19, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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“It was 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 Board of Governors,” Engelbert said. “I still feel really optimistic that we can get something transformational done by the end. But it’s a process.”
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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