With just 26 seconds left in Game 3 of the semifinals, the Lynx were trailing the Mercury by four. Napheesa Collier, fighting to keep her team’s season alive, drove hard to the basket — only to crash to the floor after colliding with Alyssa Thomas. The whistle never came. No foul. No stoppage. Later, the MRI told the story no player ever wants to hear. Three Grade 2 torn ligaments and a torn muscle in her lower leg. But what no one knew in that moment was that this painful fall would become the spark for one of the most powerful speeches the WNBA has ever seen,  one that would rattle the league’s leadership and make fans recall the words of Nneka Ogwumike from months earlier.

The WNBPA vice president didn’t hold back, calling the WNBA “the worst leadership group in the world.” She also revealed details of her conversations with Cathy Engelbert on several key issues. Caitlin Clark described the situation as “by far the most important moment in the league’s history.” Collier recently admitted in a chat with former Vice President Kamala Harris that she got “frustrated” by the lack of progress in negotiations as the October 31 deadline looms, prompting fans to revisit Ogwumike’s comments on the ongoing CBA standoff.

According to the current CBA, as reported by Roberta on X, if the league exceeds its set revenue target in any season, players are supposed to receive 50% of that extra revenue. In reality, however, reports indicate that players are only getting about 9–10% of the league’s revenue, far below what the CBA promises, since those targets have reportedly never been met.

“I feel like we’re operating on educated guesses. There’s still a lack of transparency that doesn’t let us really know,” WNBPA President Nneka Ogwumike told Forbes. “We don’t have any clear information about how much money the league is actually making.” Ogwumike also confirmed in the same interview that the players were never able to receive the 50% revenue share.

On the topic of transparency, a league source told ESPN, “The notion that the WNBA doesn’t provide the data supporting the CBA’s annual revenue sharing calculation is simply false. Each year, the league provides the Players Association with audited financial statements of league revenue and a report detailing the resulting revenue sharing calculations. The union also has the right to independently audit league revenue each year.”

Now, it’s quite hard to believe that the league isn’t achieving its revenue targets.

• According to a Deloitte report released earlier this year, the WNBA’s revenues are projected to surpass $1 billion in 2025.
• ESPN/ABC WNBA broadcasts reached an all-time high this season, averaging 1.3 million viewers across 25 games.
• The league is set to earn close to $925 million in expansion fees by 2030.
• It secured a $2.2 billion TV deal for the next 11 years.

So it’s easy to see why the players are pushing for a better revenue-sharing model. Even though the WNBPA rejected the league’s offer to raise the base salary to $1 million–a 4x jump from the current CBA–President Nneka Ogwumike confirmed the rejection was about more than just salary. The players want a fairer share of league revenue, especially seeing how NBA players take home close to 50% of the league’s Basketball-Related Income.

Sports economist and professor David Berri wrote in The New York Times that if WNBA players earned the same percentage of “basketball-related income” as NBA players, the top stars should be making over $3 million a year. That makes it even clearer why Ogwumike and the WNBPA rejected the league’s offer.

As it stands, it’s looking increasingly likely that the league won’t reach an agreement before the October 31st deadline, making a lockout a real possibility. However, Adam Silver remains confident that a deal will be reached between the two parties.

Adam Silves confident Cathy Engelbert will reach a deal with Nneka Ogwumike and co

“There’s no question that the WNBA is going through growing pains, and it’s unfortunate that it’s coming just as their most important games and their Finals are on right now,” Silver said to ESPN. “We’ve had two fantastic games so far, and we want to celebrate the game at the moment, and then we’ve got to sit down with the players and negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.”

It’s not just Adam Silver who believes a deal will get done—Engelbert has also suggested that an extension could be considered to reach an agreement with Ogwumike and the players. But what about the strained relationship between Engelbert and the players? Silver has acknowledged that these relationship issues need to be repaired following the recent criticisms of the commissioner by the players

Will that happen, or will Engelbert be replaced after the new CBA? We can’t say for sure. What we do know is that something big is coming in the next few weeks…something that could change the course of women’s basketball. Stay tuned to find out!