WNBA discussion thread?

#1,627
#1,627
1reVOLver said:
Collier is everything that the Commish is not: Direct, incisive, articulate, honest, accurate, brave,
forthright and caring.
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Phee is one other thing - the founder of a rival league whose husband runs that league. Who Phee praised in the statement as the paragon of a league commissioner.

I love Phee down and support what she said but shes the wrong messenger due to obvious conflict of interest.

If there’s a lock out, I’ll bet Unrivaled either extends their season or has another season next summer. Alex B, with his deep NBA ties, has been a money raising machine.

Phee shouldn’t be anywhere near the negotiations with the W.
 
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#1,628
#1,628
knoxvol52 said:
The big hurdle will be the negotiations over Revenue Sharing. Players want 50/50 like NBA players receive, is it a feasible possibility to go from 9.3% to 50% ? Going to be tough to get that big of a hike but I hope they get close to that...
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That’s gonna be a problem from the git go due to accusations of cooked books. They’ll need to first agree to an outside third party financial audit. That could take a minute.
 
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#1,629
#1,629
madtownvol said:
I see you are a fan of the "If we just keep quiet and obedient, maybe the people in power will decide to treat us more fairly" school of negotiating. Neville Chamberlain salutes you!!

Collins statement was brilliant and I guarantee carefully planned out. Revealing the commissioner's ludicrous comment about Caitlin Clark ensures that her statement will draw lots of attention and it makes one point abundantly clear-- the problem is not the players but out of touch and clueless management. She also drew an interesting line in the sand, "players and our great fans" versus a league office that does not care about either.

This statement puts pressure on the league to negotiate in good faith instead of their usual duplicity. Sometimes, you gotta climb that "ladder" to get what want in this world, rather that waiting for the crumbs to drop from the table on high.
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Im more of a fan of let the product speak for its self and negotiate in silence versus showing where you stand to the world as if its going to be the difference maker aka end all be all . This was not tasteful but just my opinion.
 
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#1,630
#1,630
glv98 said:
Phee is one other thing - the founder of a rival league whose husband runs that league. Who Phee praised in the statement as the paragon of a league commissioner.

I love Phee down and support what she said but shes the wrong messenger due to obvious conflict of interest.

If there’s a lock out, I’ll bet Unrivaled either extends their season or has another season next summer. Alex B, with his deep NBA ties, has been a money raising machine.

Phee shouldn’t be anywhere near the negotiations with the W.
Click to expand...
Agreed the message was impactful but coming from Collier ...ehhhh this proves the conflict of interest theory that was out there from day 1 . Comparing her husband to the WNBA is just obserd and thus why this has been a conflict of interest from the beginning. 6 teams in 1 venue cannot and will not compare . One may think Collier has had this day and plan all along and compiled a story with her husband aka the CEO of Unrivaled .
 
#1,631
#1,631
madtownvol said:
I see you are a fan of the "If we just keep quiet and obedient, maybe the people in power will decide to treat us more fairly" school of negotiating. Neville Chamberlain salutes you!!

Collins statement was brilliant and I guarantee carefully planned out. Revealing the commissioner's ludicrous comment about Caitlin Clark ensures that her statement will draw lots of attention and it makes one point abundantly clear-- the problem is not the players but out of touch and clueless management. She also drew an interesting line in the sand, "players and our great fans" versus a league office that does not care about either.

This statement puts pressure on the league to negotiate in good faith instead of their usual duplicity. Sometimes, you gotta climb that "ladder" to get what want in this world, rather that waiting for the crumbs to drop from the table on high.
Click to expand...

Collier.

And her statement was not well thought out. She has an ownership stake in a direct competitor to the WNBA. This isn’t going to go how the players think. They’re going to get sued.
 
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#1,632
#1,632
xtpsrh08123 said:
Im more of a fan of let the product speak for its self and negotiate in silence versus showing where you stand to the world as if its going to be the difference maker aka end all be all . This was not tasteful but just my opinion.
Click to expand...
This dispute is not about the “product” but revenue sharing, i.e. how much $ goes to the players and how much goes to the owners. The owners will do everything they can to maximize their share and the players have to respond in kind.
 
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#1,633
#1,633
xtpsrh08123 said:
Im more of a fan of let the product speak for its self and negotiate in silence versus showing where you stand to the world as if its going to be the difference maker aka end all be all . This was not tasteful but just my opinion.
Click to expand...
I would assume there are some large amounts of dollars on the table to be spent on negotiations, public relations, accounting contracts and legal fees for the various entities represented.

The wheels have been turning for a minute. Make no mistake. This was not a one off sit down with the press to express one player’s disaffection with the officiating and management. This was clearly an opening salvo across the bow.
 
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#1,634
#1,634
madtownvol said:
This dispute is not about the “product” but revenue sharing, i.e. how much $ goes to the players and how much goes to the owners. The owners will do everything they can to maximize their share and the players have to respond in kind.
Click to expand...
a 50/50 split is not feasible this soon in the league's birth. Seems the players are playing hardball and not accepting anything less , 35/65 would still be a major increase . How far of greed do you think they want to go ? Sure pay them all a million dollars and the owners then begin to fold franchises again because they cannot afford "again" or "the league is losing so much money" all over again.
 
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#1,635
#1,635
xtpsrh08123 said:
a 50/50 split is not feasible this soon in the league's birth. Seems the players are playing hardball and not accepting anything less , 35/65 would still be a major increase . How far of greed do you think they want to go ? Sure pay them all a million dollars and the owners then begin to fold franchises again because they cannot afford "again" or "the league is losing so much money" all over again.
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Exactly why not? Every other major league has something approximating a 50-50 split. Why do you consider it a sacrosanct condition that the owners horde the majority of the profits (which are mostly coming from the media deal). Why are they not "greedy."
 
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#1,637
#1,637
VolBall09 said:
Collier.

And her statement was not well thought out. She has an ownership stake in a direct competitor to the WNBA. This isn’t going to go how the players think. They’re going to get sued.
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I mean, I could sue you for this statement but it would be thrown out for a lack of cause. But if you mean a suit that would actually have traction in court, what would the legal transgression be? Criticizing the commissioner? saying that her league (unrivaled) is better run? Ooh, conflict of interest. Uh, not in any biding legal sense,

If I am BK, I can say that a whopper is better than a Big Mac and have no legal worries about being sued for a "conflict of interest."
 
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#1,639
#1,639
When I read these asseverations of “conflict of interest” I wonder what precisely is in conflict.
W- full court 5 player teams
UnR-full court 3 player teams

Seasons do not overlap.

UnR offers equity ownership to players, W does not.

So, different games, rules, seasons, ownership structure.

What am I missing?
 
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#1,640
#1,640
1reVOLver said:
When I read these asseverations of “conflict of interest” I wonder what precisely is in conflict.
W- full court 5 player teams
UnR-full court 3 player teams

Seasons do not overlap.

UnR offers equity ownership to players, W does not.

So, different games, rules, seasons, ownership structure.

What am I missing?
Click to expand...

Her duty of care is to the players not the W. Maybe there's a conflict against the players, but I don't see it.
 
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#1,641
#1,641
xtpsrh08123 said:
a 50/50 split is not feasible this soon in the league's birth. Seems the players are playing hardball and not accepting anything less , 35/65 would still be a major increase . How far of greed do you think they want to go ? Sure pay them all a million dollars and the owners then begin to fold franchises again because they cannot afford "again" or "the league is losing so much money" all over again.
Click to expand...
I feel like the league has moved beyond the throes of birth. It has moved into the get in while the getting in is good stage. The numbers are staggering in the other major sports leagues:

www.forbes.com

The NFL’s Most Valuable Teams 2025

Forbes' 2025 list of NFL team valuations features a new record by the No. 1 Dallas Cowboys. See the full ranking of all 32 franchises—each worth at least $5 billion.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
 
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#1,645
#1,645

Players back Collier in ripping WNBA, calling for change​

  • i

    Alexa PhilippouSep 30, 2025, 05:56 PM ET

LAS VEGAS -- A host of WNBA players leaguewide showed support for Minnesota Lynxstar Napheesa Collier after she ripped WNBA leadership in her exit interview Tuesday.
"I think I agree with everything [Collier] said," said Lexie Hull, the Fever's alternate player rep for the WNBPA, prior to Indiana's winner-take-all Game 5 semifinal matchup against the Las Vegas Aces. "We're at a really important time in the league and changes need to be made, and so you're seeing her talk about that, and really proud of her for making that statement today."

www.espn.com

Wings fire Koclanes after WNBA-worst 10-34 year

Chris Koclanes has been fired as head coach of the Dallas Wings after the team finished a WNBA-worst 10-34.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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#1,646
#1,646
1reVOLver said:
When I read these asseverations of “conflict of interest” I wonder what precisely is in conflict.
W- full court 5 player teams
UnR-full court 3 player teams

Seasons do not overlap.

UnR offers equity ownership to players, W does not.

So, different games, rules, seasons, ownership structure.

What am I missing?
Click to expand...
The W is trying to get player exclusivity in exchange for higher pay as part of the deal. No Unrivaled, no Eurocup. So Unrivaled and the W would be competing for players.

It is quite disruptive with players coming and going throughout the season and some, like Jordan Horston, get injured playing elsewhere. The Sparks would have made the playoffs if Julie Alemande had't spent the first part of the season in Europe. Of course the league will have to pay them enough to make playing elsewhere unnecessary.
 
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#1,649
#1,649
I don't think it's fair to judge any player by whether they do or don't speak out. Safe to assume Phee speaks for most.

The Commissioner is obviously a terrible communicator and has lost the W locker room big time. No circumstances under which she could stay now. Actually a reset will be helpful in a lot of ways.

Some of the problems aren't competely her fault though.. The schedule, for example, is crazy and brutal, and does cause injury due to lack of recovery time. But the league says the major headache is the lack of reliable availability of the arenas. Many of the teams' games don't take precedence in scheduling over things like Ice Capades etc Sad but true. Also the schedule is compressed in an effort to not compete with the college season.

Also apparently the refs are run by the NBA Ref office and are trained in the same system The stars of training go to the NBA while the W is treated as a G League for refs who need more training, which explains a lot of the inconsistency. As I've said endlessly, things are made so much harder for the poor refs because so much contact is allowed. They're constantly called upon to make hard judgment decisions on how much is too much.

Ironically, the league has announced a major new TV deal, 50 national games on the USA Network. Don't know if Ion will continue their Friday night games or not. But it's more media income for the leauge. Please for the love of God, just share it with the players.
 
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