Stephen A. Smith Puts WNBA On Blast For CBA Delay

Stephen A. Smith did not mince words about the lack of a new WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The March 10 "deadline" for the WNBA league office and the players' association to agree to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has now come and gone without a deal. While the two sides met for over 12 hours on Tuesday and some progress was made, the 2026 WNBA season is in danger of being shortened because these talks have taken so long.

There has been mounting pressure for a CBA to get ratified. NBA legend Charles Barkley conveyed a sense of urgency for both sides to reach a deal during a March 7 episode of "The Steam Room by saying, “I want to say this to these WNBA players: You could see this train wreck coming. You could see this damn train wreck coming... Ladies, I want you all to get paid, and I wish y'all the best. But y’all gotta be very careful. Y’all get in that room and say, ‘Hey, let’s make the best deal.’ You don’t want a strike, you don’t want a lockout."

Charles Barkley | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Stephen A. Smith Tells WNBA ‘Get A Deal Done’ In CBA Talks

While Barkley was relatively tame with his comments, notorious sports commentator Stephen A. Smith did not mince words when speaking about the WNBA CBA negotiations during a March 11 episode of ESPN's "First Take".

"To Cathy Engelbert, the commissioner of the WNBA, to the WNBA, and to the WNBPA, the women's union: Y'all better not F this up. Y'all better not F this up," Smith said, per an Instagram post from First Take. "All of your efforts are in danger of going right out the window if a season is interrupted. As much work as y'all have put in, as wonderful and marvelous as you have been collectively as a league, the growth and the maturation that has taken place, you are in danger of messing it up.

"Make no mistake about it: Major League Baseball cancels the World Series. It may have never recovered, had it not been for Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire chasing Roger Maris' single-season home run record. And do you know what they had the benefit of? History," Smith continued.

"Something historical to lean on, to chase. The WNBA don't have that. You can't afford a lockout, a strike, any kind of interruption whatsoever. Y'all better get y'all bleep together. GET A DEAL DONE!" Smith concluded.

Smith is sharing the same sentiment that many members of the women's basketball community have right now.