'It should be illegal': Napheesa Collier slams WNBA pay ahead of CBA deadline

Friday, October 31, marks the deadline for the WNBA and the WNBA Players Association to agree to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. 

With just days to go before the deadline, recently released comments by Lynx star Napheesa Collier shed light on what WNBA players are fighting for and offer blunt criticism of the treatment players feel they receive from the league.

"We are being so grossly almost taken advantage of, and it should be illegal," Collier told Glamour in a recently released interview.

As noted in the story, those comments came during a Zoom call before the WNBA Playoffs and before Collier's now-viral exit interview lambasting the WNBA league office and commissioner Cathy Engelbert for her handling of the league.

The main sticking point for the WNBPA in their fight for a new CBA has been increased pay and revenue sharing with the players.

“The amount of money that Caitlin Clark has made the league is insane, and she’s getting 0% of it because we have no rev share. She gets less than $80,000 a year, and she’s bringing in, like, hundreds of millions of dollars," said Collier. "It’s insane.”

Over the past several years, the WNBA has grown in popularity and viewership, while teams have seen their valuations skyrocket off the backs of players like Clark, Paige Bueckers, and Angel Reese.

According to Sportico, the Lynx saw their valuation take a seismic leap from 2024 to 2025, jumping from around $85 million to a whopping $240 million valuation in 2025. Despite that, player salaries have not adjusted.

Collier, along with fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart, founded Unrivaled in 2025 — a three-on-three league that allows players to stay in the U.S. during the offseason while making more money. According to Front Office Sports, Unrivaled reportedly pays its players an average of $220,000, with "no player making less than six figures." Meanwhile, the average WNBA salary is under $150,000, with the minimum around $66,000.

The WNBA commented on the negotiations, telling Glamour, "As the WNBA has stated repeatedly, we agree with the players that they deserve to be paid more and, importantly, to participate in the success and growth of the league by sharing in revenue,” the rep said in a statement. 

“The comprehensive proposal we provided to the Players Association includes both significant guaranteed salary cap increases and substantial uncapped revenue sharing that enables player salaries to grow as the league’s business grows.”