WNBA players clap back at Adam Silver as top CBA concern revealed originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday appeared to make a vital concession to the WNBA Players’ Association as collective bargaining negotiations continue. With nine days to go until the WNBA’s CBA expires, Silver went on NBC and promised a “big increase” in player salaries as part of a new agreement — though the latest reporting says no such agreement is close to the finish line.
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Silver’s comments on “Today” did point toward the players securing historic financial gains as part of a reworked CBA. But the way in which Silver couched his comments has already been met with disdain from the WNBPA, who are after a larger share of the revenue pie than the 9.3 percent they are currently owed from all WNBA revenue generated.
“I think ‘share’ isn’t the right way to look at it because there’s so much more revenue in the NBA,” Silver told NBC’s Craig Melvin. “I think you should look at absolute numbers in terms of what they are making.”
MORE: Adam Silver makes telling comments on WNBA CBA negotiations as deadline approaches
Silver’s refusal to use the word “share” raised alarm bells in the WNBPA, which continues to believe that they are being stiffed by WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the other team owners who are in active bargaining session. The players’ union posted an Instagram Story with a looping video of Silver’s “Today” appearance, overlaid with the words “Don’t want to share, @adamsilvernba?”
“When the players opted out a year ago, they made it clear they wanted a salary system that values their labor and allows them to grow with the business they are very clearly driving,” WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN. “The league’s response has been to run out the clock, put lipstick on a pig and retread a system that isn’t tied to any part of the business and intentionally undervalues the players. The fact that the league now wants to call any part of its proposal ‘uncapped’ is precisely why its leadership, transparency and accountability are being challenged right now.
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“Adam Silver said it himself on behalf of the WNBA. ‘Share isn’t the word.’ It’s not in their vocabulary.”
According to Kendra Andrews and Alexa Philippou at ESPN, the players’ top issue remains the salary model, in which they want to see player salaries grow over time, in accordance with the WNBA’s continued growth and expansion. But the players say the league remains steadfast in proposing a salary cap with a “fixed rate” that would not see salaries grow in accordance with the money pouring into the league through a new media rights deal or the hefty expansion fees for new franchises.
A WNBA spokesperson’s statement to ESPN insisted that the league wants the same thing as the players do — yet, an agreement does not appear close as the Oct. 31 deadline looms.
“As the WNBA has stated repeatedly, we agree with the players that they deserve to be paid more and, importantly, to participate in the success and growth of the league by sharing in revenue,” the spokesperson said. “The comprehensive proposal we provided to the Players Association includes both significant guaranteed salary cap increases and substantial uncapped revenue sharing that enables player salaries to grow as the league’s business grows.”
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