NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA’s latest collective bargaining proposal would include revenue sharing with a maximum salary of more than $1.1 million available to more than one player per team growing each year, according to a person familiar with the negotiations on Tuesday night.
WNBA officials updated the board on the latest proposal at meetings this week, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because ongoing negotiations are private. The new league minimum would be more than $220,000 with an average of more than $460,000.
Those numbers would start in the first year of the deal for more than 180 players and increase over the length of the CBA.
People familiar with the WNBA’s latest proposal described the plan to the AP as a highly lucrative package providing substantial increases over prior years and designed to bring negotiations to a quick conclusion.
The current CBA was set to expire Oct. 31 when the WNBA and the players union agreed to continue negotiations to Nov. 30, allowing more time to negotiate a deal that would be revolutionary for the players in terms of salary.
The players exercised their right to opt out of the current CBA last year with hopes of getting, among other things, increased revenue sharing, higher salaries, improved benefits and a softer salary cap. When the last CBA expired in 2019, both sides agreed to a 60-day extension with a CBA eventually ratified in January 2020.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was hopeful before the 2025 All-Star Game that everyone would be talking about how great the next CBA would be at the 2026 All-Star Game.
“I’m still really optimistic that we’ll get something done that would be transformational,” Engelbert said in July.
(CNN) — Three of a kind! The Las Vegas Aces can now call themselves the WNBA’s latest dynasty.
The Aces secured the 2025 WNBA championship following a 97-86 win over the Phoenix Mercury Friday to sweep the Finals.
It is Las Vegas’ third title in four seasons and were led by no other than superstar A’ja Wilson.
The 29-year-old Wilson finished with 31 points and nine rebounds to add another ring to her collection of accolades which include being named MVP for a record-breaking fourth time this season.
It wasn’t the only history Wilson made.
She was named Finals MVP for the second time in her career, and has now become the first player in WNBA history to win MVP, FMVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
An emotional Wilson shared an embrace with her partner, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, following the win.
“For us to be able to celebrate this, it’s truly special,” Wilson told ESPN on making history. “We worked our butts off to get to this point. And now its time to have some fun. I wish I could take this credit but this is God’s work. This ain’t got nothing to do with me. This is not about X’s and O’s. This is from what’s inside.”
Just like the story in Game 3 a few days ago, it wasn’t an easy road to victory for Las Vegas.
Despite a 16-point deficit going into halftime, the Mercury have proven in these Finals that no one can ever count them out.
Phoenix clawed their way back into the game in the third quarter, cutting the Aces lead to just 12 behind forward Kahleah Copper scoring 12 of her 30 points in the period.
Late in the third, it all came to a crashing halt as Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected after being issued a double technical for arguing a foul call on guard Monique Akoa Makani.
The second-year coach appeared to be confused after the foul call before exiting the court and heading into the locker room tunnel.
The ejection grew the ire of Copper.
“I think the refs aren’t doing a good job tonight, I’m sorry,” Copper told ESPN during an in-game interview. “But we’ve just got to keep our heads.”
The Mercury kept up their resilience throughout the fourth quarter, turning it into a six-point game at one point but Las Vegas proved to be too much.
Copper would foul out of the game late in the fourth quarter just as the Aces appeared to have all but wrapped up the victory.
The Aces have now won their third title in four seasons. Credit: Stephen Gosling/NBAE / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
As the buzzer sounded and Aces players and coaches rushed onto the Mortgage Matchup Center floor to celebrate the win, guard Chelsea Gray commended her team for getting through the adversity they faced all season.
“This team has been through hell and back,” an emotional Gray told ESPN after the game before hugging head coach Becky Hammon. “What a run. Everyone stepped up. Everybody. We got the best player in the world in A’ja Wilson. … We’re champions bro.”
The start of the 2025 season was a grueling one for the Aces, starting out 14-14 before winning their last 16 regular season games.
As WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was booed loudly while addressing the Phoenix crowd, it was Aces and NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis who got to hoist the WNBA championship trophy first.
A fiery way to end the 2025 WNBA Finals
The loss is a familiar feeling for Phoenix, who have now lost in the WNBA Finals for the second time in five years.
Tibbetts didn’t mince words about his ejection and the refereeing.
“To me, that’s embarrassing. I feel bad that I was tossed. Been around this game a long time. I think it’s one of the weakest double technicals ever,” Tibbetts told reporters after the game. “I didn’t even know I got the second one, to be completely honest. I don’t understand it.”
Tibbetts added he wasn’t trying to get himself ejected.
“We’re playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you’re doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all,” he added. “There’s been issues with the officiating all year. I have to look at it. I feel like I didn’t deserve that.”
When asked about her comments to ESPN during the game, Copper stopped short of expanding on her feelings.
“It’s cool. It’s done. We don’t even got to talk about that. It’s cool. It’s done,” Copper said.
Phoenix has won three championships in their franchise history, the last coming in 2014. The team came into Friday’s win-or-go-home game shorthanded after forward Satou Sabally sustained a concussion late in Game 3 and suffered another blow when forward Alyssa Thomas appeared to injure her shoulder before halftime.
She returned in the second half, but it was apparent the injury bothered her the rest of the way.
Thomas told reporters her shoulder was “good” and said she was proud of the way her team responded all season.
“I think this team just showed what we’re about. It’s a game I don’t think I ever been a part of like that, but super proud of how we fought, continued to play through everything. It’s been a great season. No one expected us to even be here,” Thomas said.
“Of course it didn’t go the way that we want it to end, but we have a lot to build on.”