As Unrivaled returns with Season 2, with 3×3 basketball taking center stage, the WNBA and WNBPA continue to be at odds over the salary cap, revenue sharing, and many other contentious points. And WNBPA Vice President Napheesa Collier is making headlines with her statement on the whole situation.
The Minnesota Lynx superstar was speaking more to WNBA executives. Speaking on the field during a Season 2 match of Unrivaled, Collier said: “Being on the Unrivaled side, I know what it takes to run a sustainable business. So if they can’t find a model that can make it happen, they need to put people in place who can.”
Rachel Annamarie DeMita of Courtside Club highlighted that the statement was not well received by much of the audience. Looking closely at the statement, the Minnesota Lynx star took a shot at the people behind the WNBA, which would only make things worse. Furthermore, the statement seems disconnected from reality, given the number and scale of the two organizations.
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Unrivaled Season 2’s viewership dropped from its inaugural season, with DeMita stating that the first season also attracted more eyeballs due to the intrigue surrounding the project. Additionally, the absence of players like Caitlin Clark, who have proven to have a large effect on viewership and attendance, is a big factor in Unrivaled not attracting as many eyeballs as many would have thought.
Additionally, Unrivaled is a completely different project and incomparable with the WNBA. Unrivaled features a different game format – 3×3 basketball – and was primarily created to give players a financially viable alternative to going overseas to play during the offseason. Moreover, in terms of scale, the WNBA is monstrous and its management tasks cannot be compared to those of Unrivaled.
DeMita also added that while Unrivaled deserves applause for achieving the sole purpose it was created for, it helped players stay in the United States and work on their game without worrying about finances related to the offseason. But Unrivaled hasn’t reached the heights it will need to before it can be included in the same conversation as the WNBA.
The pending CBA could derail the entire 2026 WNBA season
As the revised CBA deadline approaches, the WNBA and WNBPA have yet to come to a mutual agreement. And WNBPA Vice President Breanna Stewart said there was unlikely to be another extension once the Jan. 9 deadline passed, and that the two bodies would continue to negotiate in “good faith.”
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The 2026 WNBA season could happen very quickly if the WNBPA and WNBA do not reach a mutual agreement regarding the CBA soon. Rachel DeMita highlighted how the CBA has already affected the schedule for the 2026 WNBA season and what comes before it.
The leading women’s basketball organization in the United States has yet to even announce a date for the Expansion Draft, where unprotected WNBA players will be picked up by the two new franchises, Toronto and Portland.ahead of the season. The expansion draft is supposed to lead us into the WNBA draft and 2026 free agency, all of which are likely to be pushed back even further if this CBA standoff continues to drag on.
The main point of contention, according to DeMita, is revenue sharing. The WNBA analyst speculated that even though the players have dropped to a 30% revenue share, the WNBA is still holding somewhere between 15 and 17% at the moment, delaying the entire deal. Once the revenue share and salary cap are agreed, the two organizations can review the other items and conclude the CBA quickly. Further extensions are unlikely, and further delays will only hurt both the players and the WNBA.
The position Napheesa Collier’s WNBA position rests on shaky ground as new details emerge, analyst says appeared first on EssentiallySport.
