With the 2025 WNBA season officially in the rearview mirror, attention has shifted to the league’s most consequential off-court battle — the ongoing negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement. As the Oct. 31 deadline approaches, Minnesota Lynx forward and WNBPA vice president Napheesa Collier has become one of the loudest voices pushing for change.

The four-time All-WNBA selection — three times on the First Team and once on the Second Team — is challenging what she describes as a deeply flawed pay structure that undervalues the league’s talent despite record growth in attendance, sponsorships, and television ratings.

The current CBA expires this week, though both sides are expected to extend the deadline and continue negotiations into late 2025 or early 2026. The core issue remains the same: money, and whether players will finally receive a share of the league’s revenue.

Collier made headlines at the end of the season after alleging that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had made dismissive comments about Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s value to the league — remarks Engelbert later denied. Collier claimed Engelbert told her that “Caitlin [Clark] should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”

The accusation quickly spread across social media, intensifying scrutiny on the league’s approach to player compensation and its broader treatment of women’s basketball stars.

Collier expanded on her frustration in an interview with Glamour magazine published Oct. 27, where she called the current financial setup “exploitative” and said players deserve a fair stake in the WNBA’s success.

“We are being so grossly almost taken advantage of, and it should be illegal,” Collier said. “The amount of money that Caitlin Clark has made the league is insane, and she’s getting 0% of it because we have no rev share. She gets less than $80,000 a year, and she’s bringing in, like, hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s insane.”

Her comments spotlight a growing disconnect between the league’s surging visibility and what players take home. The WNBA’s new $2.2 billion media rights deal, set to begin in 2026, is expected to be the largest in league history. Yet without a true revenue-sharing model, players’ salaries remain bound by fixed caps.

Engelbert has maintained that the league’s latest proposal includes an uncapped revenue-sharing system tied to league performance. The union disputes that characterization, calling the offer a “piece of a piece” that allows the league to recoup its own revenue before players benefit.

Collier said the players’ unity in these negotiations stems from a collective sense of purpose — one that goes beyond this contract cycle.

“If we give in, we’re not only doing a disservice to us, we’re doing a disservice to where we have gotten in women’s sports,” she said. “We really have no choice but to stand strong again, not just for the present, but for the future of our league too.”

For Collier and many others, the 2026 season represents more than just a new chapter — it’s a chance to redefine what equality looks like in the WNBA’s modern era.