Napheesa Collier drops ‘frustrated’ admission amid CBA negotiations

The 2026 WNBA season continues to be in limbo as CBA negotiations between the league and the players union continue to drag on. Following an initial Oct. 31 deadline to get a new deal done, both sides agreed to an extension with a new date of Jan. 9. But as the WNBA CBA negotiations have continued, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier admitted to feeling frustrated, as per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.

“I don’t think there is fatigue. There’s obviously frustration in that both sides are trying to get what they want,” Collier said. “But I think we still have that fire within us and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get what we think we deserve.”

Frustrations over the state of the CBA negotiations came to a head during the WNBA Playoffs when Napheesa Collier dropped a scorching take on the league’s front office leadership following the Lynx’s semifinal series against the Phoenix Mercury.

Back during All-Star Weekend, players made a strong statement of solidarity with t-shirts that read, ‘pay us what you owe us.’

As new information has become available regarding what exactly both sides are asking for, they remain far apart. One of the most recent proposals had the players asking for double the revenue share from what the WNBA is proposing. Revenue share and salaries are among the issues that have been at the forefront of the CBA talks.

Should both sides continue to remain far apart on an agreement, one of the next steps could be a lockout. It would be the first time in WNBA history should that happen. The league was close to a lockout in 2003, but the WNBA and the players ultimately agreed on a new CBA.