'Enough Is Enough': Breanna Stewart Demands Seat at Pivotal WNBA CBA Talks

With the calendar racing toward opening night, the WNBA and its players are preparing for a rare face-to-face bargaining session that could define the league’s immediate future.

Less than 100 days before the scheduled start of the 2026 season, league officials and the WNBPA have agreed to convene in New York for an in-person collective bargaining meeting, a notable shift after months of stalled, largely indirect negotiations. The session is expected to include league executives, members of the labor relations committee, team owners and senior player representatives, all under mounting pressure to find common ground.

Among the voices determined to be part of the discussion is Breanna Stewart, who has been increasingly outspoken as talks have dragged on. Stewart, a central figure in the players’ push for structural change, will balance her union responsibilities with her commitments to Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 league she helped launch.

According to Winsidr, Stewart will remain in Miami to play in an upcoming Unrivaled game but plans to attend the New York meeting virtually, underscoring both the urgency of the moment and the logistical strain many players are navigating.

Stewart recently framed her decision as a matter of necessity rather than preference, explaining the dual demands on her time.

“There’s moments and times where you have to do both,” Stewart said. “That’s what I’ll be doing on Monday. I want to make sure I’m present in that meeting on Zoom, and at the same time, be ready for our game at 8:45 at night.”

While Stewart logs in remotely, the players’ union will be represented in person by Nneka Ogwumike, along with executive committee members Kelsey Plum and Napheesa Collier. Plum and Collier are expected to fly to New York after competing in early Unrivaled games on Sunday.

Plum has described the meeting as a necessary reset after prolonged silence, emphasizing how the tightening timeline has changed the stakes.

“I think we’ll learn a lot from this meeting,” Plum said recently. “This is a meeting that, I think, everyone understands what’s at stake, timeline-wise.”

At the center of the impasse is revenue sharing, the same fault line that has defined negotiations since the players opted out of the previous agreement 15 months ago. The union has argued that compensation must better reflect the league’s rapid growth, pushing for a gross-revenue model that would deliver roughly 30% to players.

The league’s most recent proposal outlined an average salary of $530,000 in the first year of a new deal, a maximum salary of $1.3 million, and the possibility of additional earnings through post-season revenue sharing. Players counter that the structure still amounts to less than 15% of net revenue, a gap the league has warned could translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over the life of the agreement.

The unresolved dispute is already reshaping the league’s operational calendar. With a May 8 tipoff date set, the WNBA has yet to finalize an expansion draft for Toronto and Portland, open a free agency period that includes more than 100 unrestricted players, or stage the regular draft scheduled for April 13.

Plum has suggested that the in-person setting itself could help clarify positions that have become muddled over months of indirect communication.

“Let’s be real: When we play telephone with people in our own lives, a lot of times things can get scattered,” Plum said. “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.’”

The WNBA has never experienced a work stoppage, a distinction that adds weight to the coming talks as the clock continues to tick. For Stewart and her peers, the New York meeting represents more than another date on the calendar — it is a narrowing window to secure a deal that aligns the league’s economic future with its on-court momentum. Even from a screen, Stewart intends to make sure her voice is heard.