Alexa PhilippouMar 2, 2026, 12:23 PM ET
- Covers women's college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
NEW YORK -- Kelsey Plum said that while the players' union should continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, she believes the offer the WNBPA has received from the WNBA so far is a "significant win" and that "a strike would be the worst thing for both sides."
"I want to play, and players want to play," Plum, the WNBPA first vice president, said at Unrivaled shootaround prior to Monday night's semifinal games in Brooklyn. "And so obviously we're going to continue to negotiate and do everything we possibly can to get this done in a timely fashion. But obviously a strike would be the worst thing for both sides, because we are in a revenue [sharing system], so no revenue, no revenue to share."
The two sides have been far apart on revenue sharing as they work toward a new CBA -- a process that started nearly 17 months ago when the WNBPA opted out of the previous agreement. The WNBPA has asked for a system where players receive 30% of gross revenue (before deducting expenses), while the league has offered a system where the players receive 70% of net revenue (after deducting expenses).
The players' union has bristled at the league's offer as it amounts to less than 15% of gross revenue, while the league has called the WNBPA's proposals "unrealistic" and claimed they would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
Plum said that getting the league to agree to a revenue sharing system for the first time -- where players' salaries will grow as both league and team revenue grows -- is something "we fought really hard for," and that the WNBPA can continue to negotiate the expense credits the league would get.
"You can continue to negotiate without striking," Plum said.
The WNBPA player body authorized the seven-player executive committee, of which Plum is part, to authorize a strike "when necessary" in December.
The possibility of a strike has lingered since and remains a prominent question with the WNBA regular season scheduled to start May 8. Meanwhile, the league gave the WNBPA a target date of March 10 to have a term sheet completed, or else the season schedule could be impacted.
"I've always been someone that's focused on the gain, not the gap." Plum said. "And to be honest, I think if you look at where we've come from, shoot, since I came into the league until now, and now that we're in a revenue share, it's a tremendous win.
"Obviously, we're going to continue to negotiate. I can't emphasize that enough. Like we're not just settling. I want to be very clear about that. But I'm super proud to be a part of this opportunity to change women's sports."
