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Napheesa Collier Sends Strong Message to WNBA As CBA Expiration Nears

Stephen Douglas

Napheesa Collier used the Unrivaled platform to take a shot at the WNBA.
Napheesa Collier used the Unrivaled platform to take a shot at the WNBA. / Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Unrivaled returned on Monday to kick off the upstart three-on-three league's second season. The league runs through early March and ends with plenty of time for players to get set for the start of WNBA season, but that start of the season is currently in doubt. The league's active collective bargaining agreement expires on Jan. 9 and according to ESPN it doesn't look like there will be any sort of deal by then, which will open the door for a work stoppage.

Napheesa Collier, one the co-founders of Unrivaled, did not play in the Lunar Owls season opener, but she was in the building and joined the Turner broadcast during the evening doubleheader to discuss the state of negotiations.

"Our deadline is coming up right now in a couple of days. I think you've just heard a lot of chatter about, what we're asking for is not sustainable for the business. And being on this side with Unrivaled, I know what it takes to run a sustainable business," said Collier. "I think if they can't find a model that makes it happen, they need to put people in place who can, because we've proven that it is possible. There is a way and we're thriving in that. And so I do think a deal's gonna get done, but we're standing firm in what we believe in. We're not gonna back down and we can't take less. The sport has just grown to much. It would be a dissservice to the people who came before us, to the work that we've put in to take less than what we're owed."

With just a few days to go, neither side seems ready to budge. Hopefully Collier is right to be optimistic about a deal getting done before the season is affected.

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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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