Angel Reese calls WNBA’s proposal ‘disrespectful’ amid players’ union labor negotiations

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made her feelings clear on the recent negotiations between the WNBA and its player’s union, the WNBPA, over a new collective bargaining agreement. 

Reese said the proposal the WNBA sent to the players was “disrespectful.” 

“It was an eye-opener for me. Like, hearing the things and hearing the language of things and not things that I was happy to hear. It was disrespectful the things that we were sent back, the proposal that we were sent back,” Reese told reporters at WNBA All-Star weekend on Friday. 

“It’s important to be able to be vocal. If I sit back, it looks like I don’t care.” 

Reese is one of the league’s more popular and polarizing players, and has built a passionate following largely on her ongoing rivalry with phenom Caitlin Clark dating back to their college days. Clark’s and Reese’s rookie season in 2024 saw the league break multiple viewership and attendance records, particularly due to games featuring Clark and the Indiana Fever. 

“Obviously, women’s basketball is skyrocketing. And it’s important for us to get what we want now, not just now, but for the future as well,” Reese said. “It’s really nice to have vets that may not be playing for 10 more years, but they are speaking for us because they know how important it is right now.”

The players met with league officials on Thursday, and the two sides did not come to a deal. Reese is one of many WNBA players who have expressed criticism for the league’s handling of negotiations. 

New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu said the players weren’t just going to settle for “the minimum” in negotiations, while Phoenix Mercury player Satou Sabally called the league’s latest CBA offer a “slap in the face.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told The Associated Press after the meeting that the meeting was “constructive.”

“It was very constructive dialogue. I think, you know, obviously part of the process is to go back and forth and, listen to the players, they listen to us and the owners who represent the board of governors,” Engelbert said. “I still feel really optimistic that we can get something transformational done by the end. But it’s a process.”

Reese previously ignited a social media firestorm after claiming that players are prepared to sit out games to demand higher salaries during an episode of her podcast in early March while previewing the upcoming CBA negotiations. 

CAITLIN CLARK NEEDS TO BE HELD BACK IN HEATED CONFRONTATION WITH WNBA REF

“I’ve got to get in the meetings, because I’m hearing like, ‘If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out,'” Reese said.

Reese has griped about her financial situation in the past.

“The WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think it pays one of my bills. Literally,” Reese said. 

Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie contract ahead of her first WNBA season in 2024. She made under $75,000 in her first year and will make less than that in 2025. 

In October, Reese admitted she couldn’t afford to pay her bills based on that salary, in an Instagram live video. 

“I’m living beyond my means. Hating pays them bills, baby. I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all,” she said. “I don’t even think that pays one of my bills. Literally, I’m trying to think of my rent for where I stay at. Let me do the math real quick. I don’t even know my (WNBA) salary, $74,000?”

Reese said she is paying $8,000 for rent.

“Babe, if y’all thought… That WNBA check don’t pay a thing,” she added. “Did that even pay my car note? … I wouldn’t even be able to eat a sandwich with that. I wouldn’t even be able to eat. I wouldn’t be able to live.”

The WNBA players’ union opted out of its current collective bargaining agreement last October, two years before its expiration. The current CBA will still cover the 2025 season, so the two sides have a year to negotiate a new agreement.

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