The frozen collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations between the WNBA and WNBPA could begin to thaw on Monday.
On February 2, league and union representatives are scheduled to hold an in-person meeting in New York. On the player side, expected participants include WNBPA Executive Committee members Nneka Ogwumike (President), Kelsey Plum (Senior Vice President) and Napheesa Collier (Vice President). Other committee members and/or union representatives from the team, including Breanna Stewart (Vice President), may be present or participate remotely.
The meeting, according to Plum, will be the first in-person conference between the players and the league since the fall. By ESPNLeague and union staff have continued to meet, even though the two sides have not held a full bargaining session in more than a month.
Advertisement
Speaking ahead of Friday night’s Philly is Unrivaled games, Shared plum:
At the end of the day, we are human beings. I think face-to-face conversation is very helpful.
Going into this meeting, I’m just excited to have the opportunity to be there in person with other players who are really invested in this, in the (executive committee) and all that, and of course, the league that is committed to being there.
Plum also expressed“I think we’ll learn a lot from this meeting. It’s a meeting where I think everyone understands what’s at stake, in terms of timing.”
The 2026 WNBA season will begin on Friday, May 8, according to the the recently released league schedule. That’s less than 100 days away, with the league set to complete a two-team expansion, free agency and the college draft, scheduled for April 13.
Despite the fact that the WNBA has not responded to the proposal shared by the WNBPA about a month ago, the league, according to ESPN“is waiting for the players to submit what he considers a more ‘realistic’ proposal”, Plum was more optimistic about the next meeting, suggesting:
I think just sitting down and understanding the relationship and the conversation, I think, is the No. 1 priority.
Let’s be real: When we’re playing tag with people in our own lives, things can often fall apart, right? So to be able to sit down face to face and say “this is how I feel, this is how you feel,” let’s see what we can do from there.
