Union president Nneka Ogwumike left the NBA offices around 1:30 p.m., three hours after arriving there, and said “no, we can’t (talk)” when asked for comment. She was joined by executive committee members Brianna Turner and Alysha Clark. Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier were planning to be at the reunion, but they had flight issues, so they dropped by along with Breanna Stewart.
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In attendance were WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and members of the Labor Relations Committee, as well as New York Liberty owners Clara Wu and Joe Tsai.
Talks to reach a new collective bargaining agreement have not had much momentum in recent weeks, as the union says it is waiting for a response to a proposal it sent around Christmas that included a 30% share of gross revenue for players. According to a person familiar with the negotiations, the league did not consider the proposal to be much different than the previous one the union had submitted.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
The league’s most recent offer last month would guarantee a maximum base salary of $1 million in 2026 that could reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing.
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That’s up from $249,000 now and could rise to nearly $2 million over the life of the deal, the person told the AP.
The two sides have been in a “status quo” period after the latest extension of the current collective bargaining agreement expired on January 9. They agreed to a moratorium a few days later that halted the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to hand out qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.
If a new collective bargaining agreement is not agreed upon soon, it could delay the start of the 2026 season. The expansion draft for Toronto and Portland has already been delayed. The league released its schedule last month and the regular season will begin on May 8.
The last collective agreement was announced in mid-January 2020, a month after its agreement. It could easily take two months from reaching a new collective bargaining agreement to the start of free agency, which was supposed to begin last month.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball