In the messy world of finance and legal contracts, clarity is capital and ambiguity is liability.  When NBA President Adam Silver was asked what we can expect from the new WNBA CBA, he committed to a pay raise but argued with the wording of how it would be. The Today show host, Craig Melvin, asked Silver if the players should get a larger piece of the revenue that the league brings in. 

“Yes. I mean, I think share isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” Silver answered. “I think you should look at it in absolute numbers in terms of what they’re making. And they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it.” WNBPA wasn’t too happy with that answer, as it refuted the idea of the revenue-sharing model. They posted a clip of Silver on their social media with the caption “Don’t want to share, @adamsilvernba?” While the intent is understood, this act brings out a harsh reality regarding the WNBPA, according to Rachel DeMita. 

“I do not know what they think doing that will accomplish. You know how there’s that meme where it’s like zero days of whatever? It’s like zero days of being a professional sports organization. Like, what does that do?” DeMita said on the ‘Courtside Club’ Podcast.

Social media is a vital tool in any public feud. It sways people’s opinion and helps rally supporters. But the WNBPA doesn’t really need that. They already have the majority of the fan base rallying for them. If they want the situation to be sorted out smoothly, a social media post is not going to help that. “I don’t understand what posting this does besides stir up more drama, and people are like Ooh, look at them look. It’s like, no, we’re acting like children should be acting like a professional organization. You have to work out these things at the negotiating table, not on social media,” De Mita further said.

To be fair, we don’t know what exactly is happening in the negotiations. Adam Silver isn’t reportedly a regular in those meetings. According to ESPN, “there can be an array of stakeholders in the room, and it’s not always the same people at each meeting.” Behind-the-scenes situation could be even worse than what we are seeing, as WNBPA did not stop at a simple IG story. 

“What the league and teams are really trying to do is not only limit the cost of labor but also contain it through an artificial salary system that isn’t tied to the business the players are building in any real or meaningful way,” WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson told Front Office Sports in a statement. “You know it’s bad when the best they say they can do is more of the same: a fixed salary system and a separate revenue sharing plan that only includes a piece of a piece of the pie, and pays [the league] back first.”

Unlike the NBA, where players take home about half of all basketball-related income (BRI) and the rest goes to owners—directly shaping the league’s salary cap—the WNBA plays by a different set of rules. Its current CBA skips the BRI formula entirely, setting fixed salary caps for each year instead. If we go by reported numbers, the WNBA players currently receive around 9% of the BRI. The league continues to offer something similar to the current CBA. This aggressive stance against a single statement from Adam Silver could be an attempt to continue focusing on the revenue-sharing issue, as narrative control is important. 

The way that they have tried to achieve that is controversial, as analysts like DeMita feel this should be done away from the spotlight. But one thing is certain: the public feud has made things difficult for a fan to judge this situation. This aggressive reaction towards one of Silver’s statements from the WNBPA begs another question: Who are the players really negotiating with?

Is Adam Silver pulling the strings behind the curtain?

The WNBA hierarchy and the ownership structure are complicated. The NBA owns 42% of the league, while 42% is with the WNBA team owners, and 16% is with third‑party investors. As a result of this structure, the NBA and Adam Silver, by extension, are bound to have a strong influence on any change in the CBA. But Cathy Engelbert was believed to be the face of the negotiations for the WNBA. There are some doubts that Adam Silver and the NBA have an overreaching influence on how the league runs. 

Last year, there was a report from the New York Post that said the WNBA will “lose $40 million (2024), a bit better than the $50 million forecast and reported by several media outlets months ago, but still a loss.” The NBA owners  “want more transparency from NBA commissioner Adam Silver about when they will get to see some return from the suddenly popular WNBA.”

As an answer to this report, Silver admitted that he is working with the NBA and WNBA to provide the right valuations for the franchise. In the answer, he also said the following: “It’s very integrated now with the NBA. So it’s a balance of things. But I’d say we’re collectively looking at all those issues, figuring out the right way to operate going forward.”

Come 2025, the franchise valuations have skyrocketed, and the owners seem to be satisfied with the result. Still, there is no transparency on what exactly the league makes and what the profits are or aren’t. Remember, it was Silver who appointed Cathy Engelbert as the WNBA commissioner in 2019. 

Silver is not a regular negotiator in the room, he matters because the NBA holds significant equity and influence. The NBA control spills through to the WNBA, as there are multiple dual owners in the league. While people are busy villainizing Engelbert, some responsibility for the current situation falls on Silver, too.