The CBA negotiations have been frustrating for players who largely don’t feel like the league is operating with the necessary urgency. While the two sides agree on a few things—mainly that players have to be paid more—there is still plenty of division in other areas. Revenue shares, in particular, have dominated the conversation.
Fever veteran Sydney Colson wants players to remember their league’s history and stand firm on what they believe they deserve, even with the rising pressure of the supposed start date for the 2026 season fast approaching.
“I think the top thing I want to see is not so much even out of the CBA,” Colson said when she appeared on We Need To Talk with Alicia Jay. “I want for the players in our league to understand what this league has been made up of. The women that have made it up in the past have been activists. We’ve stood up for social justice issues. We’ve always been those people to be at the forefront of doing the right thing. And so, I want for players to understand the moment that is in front of us and not be scared by time passing by and not hearing anything. Don’t cave in a negotiation where you’re not even hearing anything back.”
She also highlighted the importance of staying united during these negotiations and thinking about the next generation of players.
These CBA negotiations could change the trajectory of women’s basketball
The CBA negotiations are about more than just making sure that the current players are getting paid what they deserve. It’s about ensuring that future generations of players don’t have to struggle in the same way past generations did and can continue to push the league, and women’s sports in general, forward. It’s also about history and respect.
For the longest time, women athletes have been underpaid, disrespected, and barely treated like professionals. And yet, generations of players persevered and fought for everything the current players benefit from now. They paved the way for current players to be in a position to demand higher wages, better revenue shares, improved family planning and retirement benefits, and higher standards for facilities and travel, while still using their platforms to call out social injustices. Getting what they deserved all along is part of honoring previous players’ legacies.
An in-person meeting between several players and league officials on Monday brought up some concerns. For one, the league still wasn’t prepared to respond to a proposal the WNBPA sent in December. Nevertheless, the three-hour-long conversation was deemed “helpful,” according to reporting by ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. In the end, reaching a deal sooner rather than later and playing the 2026 season is in everbody’s best interest. At the same time, however, players have never had more leverage to make sure they get what they deserve.