For the primary time this offseason, there appears to be a legit mild on the finish of the tunnel within the hotly contested CBA negotiations between the WNBA and the league’s gamers affiliation.
Strolling the pink carpet on the SI Sportsperson of the Yr Award ceremony in Las Vegas on Tuesday, New York Liberty star and WNPBA vice chairman Breanna Stewart supplied Ballislife with an unique replace.
She admitted that reaching a take care of the league earlier than Friday’s prolonged deadline will likely be a problem, however expressed confidence that it could possibly be on the horizon sooner, slightly than later.
“I imply, (inside) the following three days is hard for certain. I’m very assured that we are going to get a deal achieved. It is form of unlucky that it is taken this lengthy, however hopefully we’re going to have the ability to flip the web page quickly and actually form of get deep into all of the negotiations that we have been struggling to agree on.”
The WNBA CBA deadline is simply two days away! 👀
Breanna Stewart solely tells @Ballislife that „she’s very assured“ a deal will get achieved.
Do you assume the WNBA and WNBPA will come to an settlement by Friday?
📹: @WillDespart pic.twitter.com/PIidg0ELzl
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 7, 2026
Stewart was honored on behalf of herself and fellow WNBPA vice chairman Napheesa Collier because the duo obtained the 2025 Sports activities Illustrated Innovator(s) of the Yr Award behind their efforts in co-founding Unequalled, the 3×3 offseason ladies’s basketball league that supplied WNBA gamers with a substitute for spending their winter abroad.
“Being Innovator of the Yr with Napheesa is a big accomplishment and honor,” Stewart stated. “It reveals all of the success that we now have from Unequalled in yr one and what we will have in yr two. I believe that we’re simply ensuring that we now have an area for skilled feminine athletes on a regular basis the place you are in a position to get the most effective content material, you are in a position to see completely different offers, and actually perceive gamers‘ tales on and off the court docket.”
Whereas Collier was unable to attend the ceremony, she just lately expressed confidence {that a} deal between the league and the WNBPA could possibly be reached within the close to future. Contemplating the place Collier and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stood only a few quick months in the past, the latest positivity seems like a step towards an inevitable resolution.
„I do assume a deal’s gonna get achieved,“ Collier stated on Monday’s Unequalled broadcast. „We’re standing agency in what we imagine in. We’re not going to again down, and we won’t take much less. The game has simply grown an excessive amount of, it could be a disservice to the individuals who got here earlier than us, to the work that we put in, to take lower than what we’re owed.“
Reddit co-founder and Angel Metropolis FC CEO Alexis Ohanian introduced Stewart with the award on Tuesday. He credited Stewart and Collier for his or her efforts to maneuver the sport ahead, expressing confidence {that a} deal will get achieved with the league whereas additionally noting the demand for ladies’s basketball as a complete.
“There may be extra proof than ever for the worth of ladies’s sports activities and ladies’s basketball particularly,” Ohanian stated. “And what’s that proof? It is viewership numbers. It’s attendance, model {dollars}. In America, the ‘ball do not lie’ second is when the free market says that is helpful.
“The way in which the free market says it is undeniably helpful is thru viewership, attendance, and income. On each a type of marks, it’s been the highest ladies’s staff sport in America. I believe all of us wish to see each events come collectively in a fantastic WNBA season, so I believe they will get it sorted.”
