As CBA negotiations continue to stall, fresh debate has emerged from within the basketball community itself. Former WNBA stars Sue Bird and Rebecca Lobo recently suggested that the league’s proposal to share 70 percent of net revenue over the deal’s lifespan is favorable. That stance, however, has drawn sharp pushback from national analysts like Sabreena Merchant and Zena Keita, who argue it weakens the very foundation of the players’ fight.

“I would think as a former player, you would wanna build solidarity with the present players, hey, we built this league. We should benefit in its growth and Sue Bird, especially, who was at the last CBA agreement in 2020, and specifically try to put the players in a situation where they would only have to focus on revenue sharing and salary in this particular agreement,” said Merchant.

“To me there has been so much interest, support within the union, and solidarity between max players, rookies, and veterans, and minimum salary players for them to all agree and then have two former players like to say ‘hey just take it’ that kind of sucks right?” she further added.

It all started when Lobo went on Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s podcast, A Touch More, and cited the language used by the WNBA players as troublesome. She didn’t stop at that and went further to add that a max salary of $1.2 million, average salary of $500,000 might not seem fair to the players involved, but calling it a slap to the face is simply overdoing it.

As details of the league’s proposal surfaced, a clearer picture began to form. The WNBA has offered a model that would see players receive an average of 70 percent of net revenue across the length of the agreement. The plan includes uncapped revenue sharing, a rise in maximum salaries beyond $1.3 million with growth toward $2 million, and average pay climbing past $530,000 to over $780,000, alongside minimum salaries exceeding $250,000 in year one.

Still, the structure failed to move the needle with the players’ association. The league’s proposal also outlined a $5 million salary cap in the first season, excluding revenue sharing, with future increases tied to overall revenue growth. Despite those terms, the WNBPA remains unconvinced.

Meanwhile, as all this drama is unfolding, there is also the free agency aspect that is looming large around the league and the players.

The Free Agency Issue At Large in the WNBA

As the moratorium has put the qualifying offer period in stagnation, which was supposed to open on Jan 21, the earlier stipulated date of Feb 1 for free agency signings is now eligible. As a result, the agents are going through a dry spell, which is unusual for them at this time of the year.

The moratorium has frozen everything up until Feb 1 as the CBA talks remain status quo. But after that, there won’t be any further delay. The WNBA is visibly expanding and set to welcome two new teams into the franchise – Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, which should have seen them already constructing their roster by now, but that too has been hit because of this impasse the league and the players have found themselves in with the CBA situation.

As the CBA talk is entering shallow waters with no outlet in sight, the water will eventually breakfree and that too hard on Feb 1, which will then be hard to control. It will only lead to the market being laden with talent for teams looking to upgrade, and it will be fascinating to see how the bevy of free agents decides to navigate the situation, given the uncertainty of everything that is going on.

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