Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart sent a three-page letter to WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson on Monday, expressing concerns that the union's stalled CBA negotiations could impact the 2026 WNBA season.
In a letter acquired by ESPN, WNBPA vice presidents told Jackson that players feel excluded from the process. "We do not feel like we have an adequate seat at the table in these negotiations," Plum and Stewart wrote.
The union faces a March 10th deadline to complete a new CBA term sheet. However, the WNBA season starts May 8th, leaving limited time for the draft, expansion draft, and free agency.
Negotiations have now dragged on for 17 months. According to the letter, Plum and Stewart have been "privy to details of these negotiations for less than two months." They went on to say they haven't seen revenue breakdowns, survey results, and rookie salary structures.
"Despite a year and a half of negotiations, we have not been meaningfully engaged," they stated. "When we and other players have attempted to express concerns about negotiations, we have been made to feel as though we are acting against the interests of the PA."
The pair requested a meeting with union leadership, with the WNBPA subsequently calling an all-player meeting instead.
The letter also stressed concerns about a work stoppage damaging the league's financial health. Both Stewart and Plum oppose delaying the WNBA season.
"Many other players across the league feel these same frustrations and have expressed them to us, but feel afraid or unable to speak out," read the letter.
Last week, nearly a dozen player agents penned their own letter to Jackson pushing for more transparency.
"At this stage of negotiations, with time being of the essence, alignment and shared information will best serve the players and the Union," they wrote.
The WNBA league office and the Players Association (WNBPA) exchanged escalating public statements this week, as both sides dispute terms surrounding a key issue in the ongoing CBA negotiations: revenue sharing.
"When the players opted out [of their CBA] a year ago, they made it clear they wanted a salary system that values their labor and allows them to grow with the business they are very clearly driving," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told ESPN in a statement this week, citing the vast disparity in revenue sharing percentages between the WNBA and the NBA.
Jackson continued by claiming that the WNBA intends to "run out the clock" and double down on a model that "intentionally undervalues the players."
Days ago, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said publicly that "[Revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it," pushing instead for salary increases in "absolute numbers."
WNBA leadership, however, denied that their current offer to players omits all revenue sharing, with the league calling the WNBPA's claim "incorrect and surprising," while indicating that an uncapped revenue sharing model "directly tied to the league's performance" is on the table.
"It is frustrating and counterproductive for the union to be making misrepresentations about our proposals while also accusing the league of engaging in delay," the WNBA's statement continued. "That is simply not true."
With both parties not seeing eye to eye, a resolution before the October 31st CBA deadline appears unlikely, though a formal request for an extension on negotiations is not currently in the cards.