While it has been one of the biggest stories in the women’s basketball community for the past year, the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the WNBA league office and the league’s players are going to take center stage in a major way once the 2025 WNBA Finals conclude.
Both sides have been negotiating for months, and there’s no indication that they’re anywhere near a deal, despite the deadline (which can always be moved back) being on October 31.
This back-and-forth taking center stage has brought a ton of attention from the mainstream sports world. The most recent person to offer their opinion on what’s going on is NBA legend turned television personality Charles Barkley, who gave powerful advice during an October 9 appearance on the Rich Eisen Show.
Charles Barkley’s Advice to WNBA Players
“They need to be very careful. They walking on thin ice right now,” Barkley said of the WNBA players. “Number one, I wish those ladies luck, I want them to get paid as much as possible… I know they doing some great things, but you can’t overplay your hand.”
After noting that NBA players went on strike three times during Barkley’s career, he added, “There’s this notion that just because you got power, and talent, these billionaire owners just gonna give you everything you want. That’s not gonna happen… You can overplay your hand.”
Barkley went on to talk about how billionaires always have the upper hand on millionaires before adding, “What you do is you try to make the best deal possible in the moment, and keep growing… But you got to be careful overplaying your hand.”
Barkley went on to note that if the WNBA players decide to go on strike, the players can just go to Unrivaled and start their own league.
When speaking about how negotiations work, he added, “The stars aren’t the same as the regular players. Let’s get that out the way. The stars are the ones who drive the league. But most of the rank and file are regular, good players. If the WNBA went on strike… and all those girls went to Unrivaled, they can start their own league with their own equity, and make three times what they’re making right now.”
“The majority of players in sports are on the bottom rung. They’re not up there with the superstars… To think that we’re all on the same level playing field when it comes to salaries, endorsements, and things, we are 100% wrong,” he concluded.
What’s for sure is that there’s still a lot of work to be done before a new CBA is in place.
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