THE CBA DEADLINE IS FAST APPROACHING

The clock has expired, but we’re heading into double overtime.

Minutes before the November 30 deadline, the league and WNBPA agreed to an extension of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new deadline to get a CBA signed is now January 9, 2026. Until then, the two sides will continue negotiating.

It’s been a rocky road to get here, so let’s make note of the recent changes.

On November 18, the Associated Press reported that the WNBA held their annual Board of Governors meetings in New York City. The current CBA negotiations were a major theme of the meetings, and the league revealed that its latest offer to the WNBPA includes a league minimum salary of $220k, an average salary of $460k, and a maximum salary of over $1.1 million. These numbers represent a public change from the current round of CBA discussions between the league and the Players’ Association. Stick a pin in that for a moment.

The large numbers drew a lot of attention and discussion. However, the issues underneath the surface still appear to be the biggest impediment to an agreement. From Tempestade Talk’s Roberta F. Rodrigues in Forbes:

“Engelbert and WNBA front office have expressed concern over a revenue share model stating that it could hurt the business’ long-term stability, while the other side claims historical lack of transparency has not allowed them to properly assess the financial health of the league to make demands.”

On the November 20 edition of NBA Today, ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported that the PA believes the league’s latest offer doesn’t move negotiations forward, citing the lack of revenue sharing from the league. We found out later in the evening from Annie Costiable of Front Office Sports that the $1.1 million max salary that was floated publicly has a lot more strings attached to it then the league is letting on. From Costiable:

“While salaries can reach a maximum of more than $1.1 million in the league’s offer, the base supermax contract would still pay between $800,000 and $850,000 annually—as was the case in early October. The $1.1 million figure represents combined earnings from a base salary and additional potential revenue sharing, the league sources said. Under the league’s offer, no player would sign a contract in 2026 with a base salary of $1.1 million.

Leagues often share large salary numbers during CBA negotiations to sway public opinion in their favor and against players, so the WNBA is following a long tradition across sports history. The players see through this tactic and remain focused on achieving their goals.

“We know that we have so much leverage so that [we] either make you share the money or you can make no money,” New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison told Yahoo Sports earlier this month. “So, what's going to be the best option here?”

As we discussed in the October 24 edition of the WBB Roundup, the league office doesn’t believe share is the right way to look at these negotiations. They are in agreement about raising salaries, but as Roberta noted, think a revenue sharing model would disrupt the business.

The players have been resolute in their request to have proper revenue sharing so they can fully reap the rewards of their hard work, as well as record-setting attendance numbers. And it appears the players are starting to convince the league office to be open to revenue sharing, as Philippou reported on December 1:

The $1.1 million base max salary will draw a lot of attention, but directly tying revenue growth to the salary cap in each year of the CBA should dramatically increase pay for players across the league. Another puzzle for the players to solve is what actually constitutes revenue and basketball-related income from the league’s perspective.

The road here has been arduous. With billions of dollars entering the WNBA soon, this CBA will chart the course of the league going forward. Getting it right is of the utmost importance, and the players will hold firm until they get the best offer possible. With another extension, the sides will try to find an outcome that leaves everyone satisfied. If not, we’re in for a LONG winter.

SHOULD WE BE WORRIED?

This season has not gone according to plan for Duke.

Entering the season, Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils were the solid favorite to win the ACC Championship. However, they’ve gotten off to a 3-5 start and fell out of the Top 25 after starting the season ranked seventh in the Associated Press poll.

Scoring has been especially hard for the Blue Devils so far. They are 17th (out of 18 teams) in the ACC in offensive rating. They’re 13th in the conference in three point attempts per game, but sixth in turnovers per game. That’s a recipe for disaster and will prevent them from reaching their goals. As Mitchell Northam wrote for Breakaway:

“If Duke, who was voted as the preseason favorite to win the ACC, plans to repeat as conference champions, it’ll need to step up its game on the offensive end of the floor.”

It’s been rocky, but as our Erica L. Ayala said on a recent episode of We Need to Talk, now is NOT the time to panic for Lawson

Duke was in Las Vegas for the inaugural Players Era women's tournament during Thanksgiving week. Although they lost 83-66 to South Carolina on November 26 and 89-59 to UCLA (without Lauren Betts), they left Vegas with a guaranteed $1 million in Name, Image, and Likeness money. Along with that, the players are walking away with at least $75,000 each. At least they left with something.

It’s still fairly early, but Duke needs to turn things around soon. They’re off for a few days before a primetime matchup against LSU on December 4. Hopefully, for them, they would have figured things out by the time conference play begins. If Duke's struggles persist throughout the ACC season, we might be having a totally different conversation.

The road to the tournament is a hard one, and it’s been tough so far for Duke. With a lot of season left, Lawson and her team hope that these ugly losses will lead to beautiful victories come postseason time.

WELCOME TO DECEMBER!

New month, new rankings!

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

TRAINING CAMP BEGINS ON DECEMBER 12

We’re on the road to Germany!

With the 2026 World Cup set to take place from September 4-13, teams have to figure out which roster will help them capture gold. For the United States, they’ve got a lot of great talent in the pipeline, which makes choosing a final 12 all the more challenging. That process will (officially) begin in mid December.

On November 24, USA Basketball announced the list of players that will be attending training camp in Durham, North Carolina on December 12-14:

New head coach Kara Lawson will be joined by Natalie Nakase, Stephanie White, and Nate Tibbets as her assistants.

In looking at the camp roster, there’s a lot to dig into. As Watkins continues to recover from a torn ACL, she will be here strictly as an observer and student. Caitlin Clark will be returning to the court after she missed most of the 2025 season with an assortment of injuries. We will also see the senior team 5×5 debuts for Clark, Reese, Burton, Iriafen, Jackson, Burton, Citron, Brink, and Betts. For Betts, the camp will occur during a small break in UCLA's schedule before returning to campus. There will be another camp sometime in 2026, and there we will likely see the superstars like A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, etc. With the amount of talent heading to Durham and waiting in the wings, the USA remains the country to beat.

The 2026 World Cup represents the first big event in the tenure of new USA Basketball President, Sue Bird. In addition to the seven consecutive gold medals at the Olympics, Team USA has won four consecutive World Cups and have only lost one Cup game this millennium. The pressure is always on for USA Basketball, and with the mix of young stars and championship winning vets, the team is in great position to stay on top of the mountain.

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