With the October 31st WNBA CBA deadline looming, ESPN recently conducted an anonymous survey of team owners, executives, players, and other insiders about the simmering tensions between athletes and league leadership in the wake of Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier's viral exit interview last month.
"Once you have that kind of fighting with your best players, it's a death spiral," a team executive told ESPN after fans booed commissioner Cathy Engelbert at this year's WNBA Finals.
"Change is a must," another exec said in the anonymous WNBA survey. "Either Cathy has to change how she relates to the players, or there has to be a change in that role."
That said, not everyone agreed, with one owner saying, "If you fire her now, it's admitting weakness. It's a terrible look for the league. I can't stand what [Collier] did. That was a private conversation. It makes me not want to fire [Engelbert] — even though I think she should be."
CBA negotiations have also remained frosty this month, with Las Vegas Aces star guard Chelsea Gray telling ESPN that the talks are "not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time. It's market share, it's salaries, it's player safety, it's everything."
With the parties still reportedly far from a deal, the threat of a work stoppage next season hangs over the stalled proceedings.
"I don't think it's going to be done by Halloween," a league source told ESPN. "[But] in the end, a work stoppage doesn't benefit anybody."
The Las Vegas Aces won the 2025 WNBA Championship in Friday's Game 4, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury to put a bow on the league's longest-ever season — while also starting the clock on its next CBA.
"We have great players," Aces guard Chelsea Gray told reporters, stressing the importance of the upcoming deal after helping secure Las Vegas's third title in four years. "You need to treat them like that."
Like many teams across the league, the Aces have just one player under contract for 2026 — rookie Aaliyah Nye — after a rash of now-free agents opted to sign one-year contracts in anticipation of salary shifts in the upcoming CBA.
With the October 31st deadline looming, negotiations are likely to extend past that mark amid mounting tensions between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert in recent weeks.
"I think they'll work it out somehow, I hope — I haven't been consulted," said Aces owner Mark Davis.
Davis also joked about making Becky Hammon the best-paid head coach in the WNBA, with the Las Vegas manager currently pulling in $1 million annually — four times the single-year supermax player contract under the league's current CBA.
Salary structure a tipping point in WNBA CBA negotiations
As for the players union, the WNBPA says they're aiming to expand revenue sharing, while the league is reportedly looking to keep salary structures mostly intact.
"It's basically the same system that we exist in right now," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in August. "When you approach it from the perspective of their response to our proposal, yes, money is more, but ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same."
According to Front Office Sports, the most recent WNBA offer included an $850,000 supermax contract plus a veteran minimum near $300,000.
The WNBA will likely have until the end of 2025 to strike a deal, but with little common ground emerging thus far, the potential for a work stoppage looms large.
The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces raced to a 2-0 series lead in the 2025 WNBA Finals over the weekend, opening with a close 89-86 Game 1 victory over the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury on Friday before pulling off a more dominant 91-78 Game 2 win on Sunday.
The Aces' offense ruled the court, with guards Dana Evans and Jewell Loyd putting up a momentum-shifting combined 39 points off the bench in Game 1 before Game 2 saw guard Jackie Young post 32 points — setting a WNBA Finals record with the most points by a player in a single quarter (21).
Young and 2025 WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson — who is averaging 24.5 points per game through the first two Finals matchups — also became the second-most prolific duo in a single Finals game in WNBA history by combining for 60 of Las Vegas's 91 points on Sunday.
"I am so proud of Jackie," Wilson said after Sunday's win. "I'm a pain in the ass sometimes when she's not doing her job, because I know that [potential] is there."
Hunting their third title in four years, Las Vegas veterans Wilson, Young, and guard Chelsea Gray are combining with new signings Evans and Loyd to make things difficult for the new-look Mercury.
"We have weapons," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said. "We want to use them all, because we're harder to guard that way."
"What gives me confidence is we've been down before," countered Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts. "We've been overlooked."
While no WNBA Finals team has ever bounced back from a 0-2 start, the league's new best-of-seven format gives the Mercury a little extra cushioning as the series travels to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday.
How to watch Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury will hunt their first victory in the 2025 WNBA Finals on home court when they host the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces for Game 3 at 8 PM ET on Wednesday.
Live coverage will air on ESPN.
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury land in Las Vegas to tip off the first best-of-seven finals in league history on Friday night, leaning into a new-look roster as they take on the No. 2 Aces in Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals — the Mercury's first championship series since 2021.
"This is what it's all about," said Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas ahead of the matchup. "We play the whole season for playoffs and moments like this. I want to win. I've been chasing a championship for a long time, and I think this is our time."
The Mercury found almost immediate success this year after picking up top free agents like Thomas and fellow forward Satou Sabally during a productive offseason.
"I'm really happy with the strides that we've made, how we're trying to build this team moving forward, because there were some players that took chances on us and you want it to go well," second-year Phoenix head coach Nate Tibbetts told JWS last month.
"It speaks volumes about the team and how we stay composed, how we can go on runs and ride the wave," Thomas said. "You don't know what each game is going to bring, but the biggest thing is us staying composed."
Phoenix will have their work cut out for them on Friday night, facing a Las Vegas home unit armed with significant postseason experience as Aces mainstays A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray shoot for their third title in four years.
"We've been here before, we have a team full of vets, but they do, too. I don't think you can take that for granted," said Young.
How to watch Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals
The No. 4 Phoenix Mercury and No. 2 Las Vegas Aces will tip off the 2025 WNBA Finals at 8 PM ET on Friday, with Game 1 airing live on ESPN.
Game 2 will follow at 3 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on ABC.
The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces are headed to the 2025 WNBA Finals, surviving the No. 6 Indiana Fever's Game 5 upset bid with a 107-98 overtime win to close out the semifinal series 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson and two-time league champion Jackie Young combined for 67 points in the victory, with Young and point guard Chelsea Gray additionally swapping clutch buckets to seal the deal as the clock ticked down.
"It's not just one person, it's not just five people, it's everybody. Everybody you see contributed to this game," Wilson said after leading the Aces to their third WNBA Finals in four years.
With six players already sidelined with injury, the Fever took another big hit in the third quarter, when leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell exited the game with lower-body cramps.
Short-staffed Indiana never let up, however, with former hardship signing Odyssey Sims contributing 27 points as the Fever pushed the home team to the brink of elimination.
"They're a great example to everybody of what it means to just put one foot in front of the other," Fever head coach Stephanie White said afterwards. "To persevere, to welcome people into the fold, to not give in to circumstance."
How to watch the 2025 WNBA Finals
The 2025 WNBA Finals are officially a battle in the desert, with the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces hosting the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Friday.
The first clash of the championship series will tip off live at 8 PM ET on ESPN.
No. 2 Las Vegas narrowly avoided a 2025 first-round postseason series upset on Thursday night, defeating the No. 7 Seattle Storm 74-73 in a deciding Game 3 to advance to the Aces' seventh-straight WNBA semifinals.
Aces star A'ja Wilson put her team on her back with another dominant performance, posting 38 points — including 25 in the second half — to outscore the rest of the Las Vegas lineup entirely.
"I am so proud of my team, we were resilient, that's what we need to be in these playoffs and I love each and every last one of them," Wilson said postgame.
Las Vegas got off to a slow start this year, but a late-season surge fueled by a renewed focus on depth saw the 2023 WNBA champs take the No. 2 playoff seed — and book yet another trip to the WNBA semifinals.
"I remember Chelsea [Gray] saying in a timeout, 'There's no time for my-bads anymore,'" said Wilson. "We have to play perfect basketball."
How to watch the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 WNBA semifinals
Up next for No. 2 Las Vegas is a No. 6 Indiana side punching above their weight.
That said, the Fever did score a 2-1 record against the Aces in the 2025 regular season — and Las Vegas's lone win over Indiana came back in June.
"They haven't seen the real Aces yet," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said of the Fever. "They caught us when we were a bit in turmoil."
The Aces will take aim at Indiana in Sunday's 3 PM ET semifinals opener, airing live on ABC.
The No. 3 Las Vegas Aces are on an historic tear, extending the league's longest winning streak this season to 11 games by defeating the No. 12 Chicago Sky 79-74 on Monday night — becoming the second team to clinch a spot in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs in the process.
Despite a 30-point performance from Chicago guard Ariel Atkins, plus double-doubles from Sky center Kamilla Cardoso and forward Angel Reese, the Aces emerged victorious behind guard Jackie Young's team-leading 22 points.
MVP contender A'ja Wilson and veteran guard Chelsea Gray also added 18 and 14 points, respectively, to fuel the Las Vegas win.
"They've been resilient," Aces head coach Becky Hammon said following Monday's game. "It's been a really tough stretch…you're getting beat up and you've got to maintain, you have to play through it."
The Aces haven't dropped a game since August 2nd's 53-point blowout loss to the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, racking up seven wins over teams currently in postseason positions as they climb the WNBA standings.
As for the already-eliminated Sky, Chicago did have one big reason to celebrate on Monday night, as the team raised the jersey of retired WNBA legend Candace Parker into the rafters during a halftime ceremony complete with remarks from current Phoenix Mercury star and 2021 WNBA champion Kahleah Copper.
"Today we celebrate you," Copper said to her former teammate. "You gave this game everything. Your time, your body, your heart. You didn't just play the game — you set records, you broke barriers, and you left your mark in ways stats can't fully compare."
How to watch the Las Vegas Aces this week
The No. 3 Aces have their work cut out for them as they shoot for 12 straight wins during their visit to the No. 2 Atlanta Dream on Wednesday.
The clash tips off at 7:30 PM ET with live coverage airing on NBA TV.
A simmering rivalry turned a new page on Wednesday, as the No. 5 Las Vegas Aces punctuated their current rise by defeating a short-staffed New York Liberty 83-77, knocking the reigning champs down to No. 3 in the WNBA standings.
"You can't rush a cake to be baked," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said about her team following their fifth straight win.
"We're just steady and poised in the locker room," added Aces guard Chelsea Gray. "In the uncomfortable situations, you figure out who you are as a team."
Las Vegas made key midseason changes after finding themselves teetering on the postseason bubble, moving 2025 addition Jewell Loyd to the bench while shifting to a small-ball starting lineup centered around 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson and recent pick-up NaLyssa Smith.
"She likes it, I guess," Hammon said of Loyd's new role after the guard posted a team-leading 21-point performance on Wednesday. "Anytime you have the threat of 20-plus coming in off the bench, that's a huge advantage."
"That's the beauty of this team," echoed Loyd. "We're very unselfish in that way — we want to see people get going and I just got hot."
While the Las Vegas Aces are gaining momentum, the Liberty are now scrambling, losing their second-place grip on the WNBA table with injured star Breanna Stewart still watching from the sideline.
How to watch the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA this week
The No. 5 Aces are in for another tough assignment on Friday, when they travel to Phoenix to take on the No. 4 Mercury at 10 PM ET.
Live coverage of the clash will air on ION.
WNBA action posed as many questions as answers last weekend, as perennial contenders like the Las Vegas Aces reckon with new challenges while rosters continue to gel.
The 2023 champions suffered a surprise 95-68 blowout loss to expansion side Golden State on Saturday, with the Valkyries stifling Las Vegas's star-studded offense.
Only two starting Aces cracked double-digit scoring: Reigning MVP A'ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray put up 17 and 16 points, respectively, though 2025 second-round draftee Aaliyah Nye impressed off the bench by adding 13 of her own.
Golden State, on the other hand, had a banner afternoon with three double-doubles among the Valkyries' five double-digit performers, led by forward Kayla Thornton's 22-point, 11-rebound outing.
"They outplayed us in every aspect of the game," said Aces head coach Becky Hammon after the loss. "Just really one of the worst games I've seen from us."
Gap widens between 2024 finalists and rest of the WNBA
Currently in fifth place in the WNBA standings, Las Vegas isn't the only team still searching for an identity in the 2025 season, as a clear divide is widening at the top of the league.
The still-undefeated 2024 WNBA finalists — the Minnesota Lynx and reigning champion New York Liberty — lead the pack by a growing margin, as the third-place Atlanta Dream sit a full three games behind the league leaders less than four weeks into the 2025 season.
Along with Las Vegas, the Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm, and Indiana Fever are all hanging tough with records at .500 or higher, though none are riding more than a two-game winning streak.
Despite setting a franchise attendance record of 19,496 fans at Chicago's famed United Center on Saturday, the Sky fell to an injury-laden Fever squad 79-52 to remain in 11th place in the standings.
Also struggling at the bottom of the table are the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings. Along with the Sky, the WNBA weekend action has the trailing trio sitting multiple games below the 2025 playoff line.
How to watch Monday's WNBA action
Hoping to harness the momentum of their massive Saturday win, Golden State will travel to LA to take on the Sparks at 10 PM ET on Monday.
The game will stream live on WNBA League Pass.
Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball minted its first-ever champions on Monday, crowning Rose BC after the No. 2 seed defeated No. 4-seed Vinyl BC 62-54 behind star Chelsea Gray’s 18 points, eight assists, and three rebounds.
Gray’s dominance managed to tip the scales, helping Rose overcome the losses of both Kahleah Copper and Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese to injury.
Also stepping up for the Rose were Azurá Stevens, who posted a 19-point, 18-rebound double-double on Monday, and Brittney Sykes, whose 21 points included the championship-winning free throw.
Despite slightly trailing her two teammates' in scoring during Monday's final, Gray's astounding postseason stats, which include averages of 28.5 points, six assists, and three rebounds, secured the guard the league's inaugural Playoff MVP title.
Ultimately, Rose rode their underdog status — earned with a talented, but primarily young roster — all the way to the championship.
"From day one they counted us out," said Rose head coach Nola Henry after Monday's game. "Kah went down, they counted us out. Azurá was out and they counted us out. Angel down, they counted us out. What they gonna say now?"
Unrivaled closes successful inaugural season
After the confetti fell on Monday's 3×3 championship court, players and coaches alike agreed that the new offseason league has been a great success — regardless of which team hoisted the trophy.
"A lot of fans came out and there’s a lot of energy behind it, but people are already excited about it for next season," Gray said of the upstart. "When you win, you have a different appreciation or joy about it, but it was a great first season."
While Rose BC’s athletes will likely carry that winning spirit — plus the $50,000-per-player bonus — into the WNBA’s May 16th season tip-off, Unrivaled’s impact will undoubtedly be felt far beyond its debut postseason.