The Minnesota Lynx are still reeling from heartbreaking loss in the 2024 WNBA Finals. Led by Napheesa Collier, their main mission is to finish the job this season is to cross that finish line. The journey to get there, as it happens, won’t be as easy as it was last season. Collier claims, however, that the biggest surprise this season has come from the business side of the league.
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A sporting franchise can take a number of hits before each new season. Injuries, relationships among teammate, or even a coach losing the locker room; these are all known to happen. Fortunately for the Lynx, none of this has transpired for them yet. They were even able to retain the same team that led them to the WNBA Finals. The wages, on the other hand, remain an issue.
For many years, players have advocated for an increase in pay. Well, now that the new CBA negotiations have begun, Collier is off experiencing her first such rodeo and she isn’t particularly thrilled with it.
“This is my first true CBA. I came in when it became effective on the last one, so I didn’t have any experience in the negotiations,” Collier said on the A Touch More podcast. “I underestimated the tomfoolery that goes into it.”
Of course, as fans and outside figures, we will never know the true dynamics of what is going on in these negotiations. By the looks of things, it doesn’t seem like much progress has been made.
Ahead of the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, players wore shirts which said, ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us.’ This was a decisive move on the players’ front to make their stance known to the owners.
WNBA all stars wearing a “Pay us what you owe us” shirt in warmups pic.twitter.com/jIj2W6N6kw
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) July 20, 2025
Collier, meanwhile, holds a different role in these negotiations compared to her WNBA sisterhood. She is the vice president of the WNBPA [Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association]. As a result, she has been at the forefront of these conversations.
What does process consist of? Megan Rapinoe attempted to provide clarity. “I feel like going through it, it’s just like stuff all the time. It’s like emails and group chats, and proposals. It’s also stuff within your own group where you have this ever-present reality show that is happening in the background and foreground all the time,” she said.
During the WNBA All-Star break the league and players held discussions to make progress toward a new CBA. Unfortunately, they were unable to achieve their goals. If a new CBA isn’t agreed upon soon, there could be big implications for next season.
“We’re on a time crunch. No one wants a lockout,” said Collier during media availabilty ahead of the All-Star Game. “But at the end of the day, we have to stand firm and we’re not going to be moved on certain topics. So hopefully the league comes back quickly so that we can get have more dialogue, more conversations and can get the ball rolling.”
Collier, along with the rest of the WNBA, has their main focus on closing out the season strong on the hunt for a championship. But the issue at hand with the CBA will continue to presist, perhaps well into the offseason.
