WNBA CBA negotiations just got an ominous update

There haven’t been many negotiation updates since the WNBA CBA expired on Jan. 9 and the league entered “status quo” mode. As of today, we know why: because the WNBA hasn’t responded to the WNBPA’s latest proposal, which was sent to the league over a month ago.

According to a new update from ESPN, the players sent their latest CBA proposal to the WNBA to review a month ago. The WNBA hasn’t responded, and Alexa Philippou reports that it is because the league “believes it didn’t warrant a response.” Apparently, it was too similar to the last proposal, and the WNBA is waiting for the players to be “more realistic.”

The idea of a work stoppage hasn’t seemed like a path either side would realistically take… until this update. The fact that we are this deep into negotiations and the league is 1) not responding to proposals and 2) saying the players need to be “realistic” when this is likely a proposal that has included some compromise from the union? It feels dicey.

Like we’ve talked about in the past, there is really no point in the WNBA holding a lockout — it wouldn’t do anyone any good. The WNBA isn’t like the NBA in the sense that it doesn’t ban players from playing in other leagues. Locking players out only works when they can’t go seek other places to play and train. A strike, on the other hand? That has the opposite effect, essentially stopping the league in its tracks after they just announced the 2026 season schedule last week.

The fact that the league and the players just haven’t spoken in weeks gives the impression that we are still very far apart on any deal. Which means whatever “offseason” is ahead for the WNBA when (if?) a deal does happen gets more precarious by the day. As we all know at this point, the league needs to cram in a two-team expansion draft, 100+ players need to be signed to teams, and a WNBA draft needs to happen. As the days tick on, the prospect of fitting that all in before training camp starts in April is… dubious.

Looking in from the outside, it feels like the league should be the ones trying to get something going here. They are the ones who are booking venues for games in the summer, selling tickets, and making sponsorship deals happen. They have so much more to lose by the 2026 season not happening, where the players are off making their own money in other leagues, and are still able to operate other business ventures, even if the 2026 season doesn’t happen. Of course, they want to play, but they have been super vocal about holding strong on their wants and needs here. You’d think it would be the other way around — that the players aren’t responding to the league’s proposals.

It’s not really a concrete update, but this stalemate is just an indication that we shouldn’t necessarily expect CBA news in the immediate future… or a WNBA season at all.