Goldstein resigns from WNBA players union

NEW YORK (AP) Evie Goldstein is stepping down as the WNBA players' union director of operations less than a year after she took the job.

Her last day with the union will be Wednesday.

''I'm very passionate about player rights and, having worked at the MLBPA, was excited to see how I could advance the causes of this union,'' Goldstein said. ''I think we've made some good strides. But as things transpired during my tenure, it seemed there might not be a shared vision of how to continue moving this union forward. So I decided to step aside.

''But the players deserve, and I hope whoever follows me will promote, the principles so key to any union: responsiveness, transparency, inclusiveness and advocacy.''

She inherited a union that had signed a new eight-year collective bargaining agreement in 2014 with an opt-out after six years. Goldstein spent the last 10 months, since she was hired in February, getting to know the league's players and help them.

Before taking over at the union, she spent six years working on the commercial side of the MLB Players Association after starting as a litigator at a New York law firm. Goldstein also was at Lifetime Television, which was one of the first networks to carry WNBA games when the league launched in 1997.

Goldstein replaced Pam Wheeler, who parted ways with the union last December after 15 years with the organization.