Silver: WNBA CBA will get done but relationships must be repaired

STAMFORD, Conn. — NBA commissioner Adam Silver said a new collective bargaining agreement with WNBA players will be reached but acknowledged relationship issues must be repaired following recent criticisms of commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Those issues reached a high point last week when Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier said the league has the “worst leadership in the world,” and they have threatened to overshadow the WNBA Finals between Las Vegas and Phoenix that began days afterward.

“There’s no question that the WNBA is going through growing pains, and it’s unfortunate that it’s coming just as their most important games and their Finals are on right now,” Silver said Monday. “We’ve had two fantastic games so far, and we want to celebrate the game at the moment, and then we’ve got to sit down with the players and negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.”

Engelbert has also said a new deal will get done, albeit not necessarily by the Oct. 31 deadline. Negotiators for the league and the players association were expected to meet this week.

Players are seeking significant changes following the WNBA’s enormous growth in recent seasons, and some have expressed their frustration with Engelbert — though not as loudly and forcefully as Collier, the runner-up for the league’s MVP.

“Cathy Engelbert has presided over historic growth in the league but there’s no question that there’s issues that we need to address with our players, not just economic,” Silver said. “There’s relationship issues as well. I’m confident we can fix those over time and this league can continue to be on the rocket trajectory that it’s on right now.”

Silver spoke at NBC Sports headquarters to discuss the network’s return to broadcasting the league this season. It will also televise the WNBA Finals in 2026.

Former Lakers guard Derek Fisher was the National Basketball Players Association president in 2011 when the league and union couldn’t reach an agreement in time and a lockout reduced the season to 66 games. He said it was rare to see someone express themselves the way Collier did during bargaining, but understood the reason.

“It’s not the norm, but those were the feelings a lot of times,” said Fisher, who also coached in the WNBA and will be one of NBC’s game analysts for its NBA coverage.

“Whenever you’re in the heat of high stakes negotiations and conversions and discussions, it reaches the level of distrust sometimes, misunderstandings due to miscommunication or poor communication. But ultimately, until you reach an agreement, there is a very adversarial nature to it until you come back together.”

Silver insisted they will.

“We will get a deal done with the players,” he said. “Lots of work left to be done, but we’ll of course get a new collective bargaining agreement.”

It might not be easy. Fisher said he can sense that WNBA players feel they have not been valued enough and have a disconnect with league’s management.

“I think the W could have been at this point sooner,” Fisher said. “Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese kind of reaccelerated the growth, but this league has always been a special league. And so I think that the players are just saying we can’t allow some of the things that have taken place in our previous 27-year history. We don’t want to leave the girls over the next 20 years in the position that we were in when we had no leverage.”