Angel Reese and DiJonai Carrington Tease Potential WNBA Lockout Amid CBA Negotiations
In December 2024, it was revealed that the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA) and the league office are already in negotiations for the league's next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which will have massive ramifications on the league's future.
What's expected to be the biggest possible change from the current CBA (which will expire after the 2025 season) to this one is, per a December 11 article from Doug Feinberg of the Associated Press, "A new economic model that transforms the current system, which imposes arbitrary and restrictive caps on the value and benefits of players. The players want an equity-based model that grows and evolves with the league’s increased business success.
"Other areas that the union would like to see improved include salaries, retirement benefits, better child care and family planning benefits," it added.
Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington was the featured guest on a March 7 episode of Angel Reese's Unapologetically Angel show. At one point in their discussion, the two WNBA standouts made interesting comments regarding the potential fallout from these CBA negotiations.
"Yeah, the new CBA is coming up. I can't wait," Reese said. "We deserve more. Everybody."
Reese and Carrington then discussed how the 2026 WNBA rookies are going to have a higher salary then Reese, who will be making a base WNBA salary of $82,399 that season.
Carrington (who is a team representative within the WNBPA) told Reese she needs to get in on the CBA negotiations meeting.
"I got to get in the meetings, because I'm hearing like, if y'all don't give us what we want, we sitting out."
"That's a possibility, for real," Carrington responded.
“If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out” 👀💰
— Unapologetically Angel (@angelreeseshow) March 7, 2025
Full episode out NOW: https://t.co/cQPWJ2zle9 pic.twitter.com/ruK3iZ3oyN
Time will tell whether the CBA negotiations get to the point of a potential player lockout.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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