A’ja Wilson sinks shot as WNBA marks CBA breakthrough

new WNBA – From a Game 3 fadeaway that sealed hopes in the 2025 WNBA Finals to a new collective bargaining agreement that begins 2026 with bigger pay and a higher salary cap, the league’s 30th season is being shaped by one clear shift: players finally locked in the rules

It was the kind of moment the WNBA has learned to build to—close enough for every heartbeat to count, loud enough that a single sound can travel.

In Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals at Mortgage Matchup Center. the scoreboard sat at 88 with Las Vegas holding possession and Phoenix needing defense in regulation to avoid a 3-0 series deficit. Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson cut across the paint to catch an inbounds pass from Chelsea Gray. Alyssa Thomas-DeWanna Bonner met her as a double team formed at the top of the elbow. but Wilson sized up the matchup and dribbled toward the basket. Her pivot came next, and then the move that turned pressure into punctuation: a fadeaway jumper over Thomas and Bonner.

The shot ping-ponged around the rim before it dropped in—quietly carrying “the hopes and dreams of an entire league.” Wilson didn’t celebrate with stillness. She jogged toward the other end with her mouth agape and tongue out. then clapped so hard that it carried above the court amid a noticeably stunned arena. Her applause wasn’t just for herself and her team. She was also applauding the players who came before and those who would arrive after.

“To see that I’m now a huge print on this league, it’s just been surreal,” Wilson told Sports.

“My thing is just like, ‘How can I be great? How can I continue to lay the path down for the next generation,’ because the path was laid down for me, no matter how easy or how hard it was?”

That idea—laying the path. then watching it harden into something real—is now colliding with a separate turning point off the court. The WNBA is celebrating its 30th anniversary in a season defined by a new collective bargaining agreement that runs through 2032. including a $7 million salary cap. a $1.4 million supermax salary. and minimum salaries that rose from $67. 000 to $300. 000.

It’s the kind of shift players have been pressing for as the league’s popularity surged, and the timing is impossible to miss: the WNBA’s next chapter begins right after a CBA fight that lasted long enough to change the way people talk about what a women’s league should pay.

The league’s growth didn’t arrive all at once. Its current momentum can be traced to the 2024 WNBA Draft class. when Clark set the all-time NCAA scoring record for men and women and hit logo 3-pointers that pulled millions of fans along. She wasn’t alone. Angel Reese and Cameron Brink joined a wave that helped force a bigger conversation about what the league would need to support star power.

In response, the WNBA announced full-time charter flights for teams after players had flown commercial for the previous 28 seasons. By July of that year. the league signed an 11-year media rights package worth $2.2 billion with Disney. NBC and Amazon. later adding USA Network. Paramount. Scripps and NBA TV to bring the reported value to more than $3 billion. Expansion fees—reported at $50 million for a future Toronto franchise and $75 million for a Portland team—also ballooned to $250 million for Cleveland. Detroit and Philadelphia. all set to debut by 2030.

Sheryl Swoopes. Cynthia Cooper. Rebecca Lobo and Lisa Leslie may have helped legitimize the WNBA in its earlier era with elite talent and credibility. but the league’s cultural attention has accelerated with every new wave of stars. Diana Taurasi. Maya Moore. Sue Bird and Tamika Catchings raised the standard again and again. and now Wilson. Breanna Stewart. Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers are pushing the game to new heights.

Bird described the biggest difference in how visible the league has become.

“It’s just how many people ― even if I’m just walking down the street or I’m somewhere socially ― people are talking about the WNBA in a totally different way,” Bird said.

“The narratives have changed around this sport, around this league, and it’s really wonderful to see.”

By August 2025, the WNBA set a single-season attendance record. Across 226 games, 13 franchises drew more than 2.5 million fans. That surge also showed up on screens: the WNBA delivered record-breaking viewership numbers as well. with the most-watched regular season and postseason across ESPN networks. During 25 regular-season games, matchups averaged 1.3 million viewers. Across 24 postseason games, there was an average of 1.2 million. The playoffs were the most-viewed since 1999.

Expansion has also turned into its own proof point. The 2025 season welcomed the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008. Golden State sold out all 22 of its home games, averaging 18,064 fans per matchup. The Valkyries set a WNBA record for most wins by an expansion team in a debut season (23). and became the first expansion franchise to make the playoffs. The team has since become the W’s first franchise valued at nearly $1 billion.

Valkyries president Jess Smith framed the moment as both pride and inevitability.

“I know that this is a moment that many people have been looking for in the continued growth of women’s sports, and it’s been a long time coming,” Smith said.

“It’s still the beginning in so many different ways.”

Against that backdrop, the CBA fight wasn’t just a labor story. It was the hinge between “growing” and “getting paid for it.” The WNBA’s success of the last few seasons became the evidence the players wanted—proof the league was ready for more.

What followed was an 18-month battle with the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) to carve out a new CBA. In October 2024, the association opted out of the 2020 CBA, setting the stage for negotiations. The players and league were far apart on issues including revenue share, salary cap and housing.

Tensions reached a boiling point nine months into negotiations when players wore “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts at the 2025 All-Star Game. One of the main items on the All-Star weekend agenda was a face-to-face meeting between players and the league about the CBA. Multiple players in attendance said the meeting did not go well.

Clark summarized the pressure of the moment from inside the room.

“We should be paid more, and hopefully that’s the case moving forward as the league continues to grow,” Clark said.

“I think that’s something that we are in the room advocating about.”

Talks continued for another nine months, with countless revisions to the proposed CBA by both sides. The impasse came close enough to threaten the start of the 2026 season that the push accelerated.

Then, on March 18, 2026, after more than eight days and 100 hours of face-to-face meetings, a landmark CBA was agreed to in principle. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert called it “transformational,” and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike tied the agreement to lives built over years.

“It is, in a way, not just for today, but for tomorrow, and the years to come. It’s not just about what we see written in the agreement. It’s also about the lives that built this league, and are growing this league, that are changing,” Ogwumike said.

The new CBA runs through 2032. It includes a $7 million salary cap and a $1.4 million supermax salary—quadrupling the previous number. The cap will be adjusted annually based on league and team growth. Minimum salaries increased from $67,000 to $300,000. Max salaries are expected to exceed $2.4 million by 2032.

Swin Cash, a WNBA Hall of Famer who won three WNBA titles with the Detroit Shock and Seattle Storm, described the feeling of waiting for the first million-dollar deal.

“I can’t even tell you how giddy I was when the CBA was done,” Cash told.

“I was just happy, waiting, like, ‘Who’s signing that first million-dollar contract?’ Like, ‘What’s up?’”

“And I’m not getting a dime from it, but I can sit here and be happy for those who are.”

The moment didn’t stay theoretical.

On April 9. Aces guard Jackie Young became the first WNBA player to finalize a million-dollar contract. reportedly worth $1.19 million. joining a list of 30 players making $1 million in 2026. Later in the month, Wilson signed the largest deal in WNBA history—a three-year supermax contract worth $5 million.

Two days after Wilson’s deal. the Indiana Fever and center Aliyah Boston agreed to a four-year contract extension through the league’s new Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract (EPIC) provision. Boston’s deal was reportedly worth $6.3 million, making it the largest total salary in league history. In 2026, Boston is set to make $1 million and will earn 20% of the salary cap each season through 2029.

Catchings called the change something that would outlast the season.

“This will go into a history book. It will be a historical moment for women’s sports,” Catchings said.

“Not just the WNBA (but) for women’s sports. We will read about this. Our kids will read about this one day.”

The new agreement has also forced the league to sprint. With the CBA ratified, the WNBA moved quickly to begin the 2026 season and celebrate 30 years of women’s professional basketball in the USA.

The league was born on April 24, 1996, after the NBA Board of Governors approved the concept of the WNBA. “We Got Next,” women’s basketball said with an inaugural campaign featuring now Hall of Famers Swoopes, Leslie and Lobo. The first game tipped off on June 21. 1997. at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. California. between the New York Liberty and Los Angeles Sparks. Sparks guard Penny Toler scored the first points in WNBA history at the 19:01 mark of the first quarter.

The matchup has also become a kind of reference point for dynasties to come, including the Comets and Minnesota Lynx, who each have four titles.

Swoopes recalled how much the moment still hits.

“My eyes just tear up,” Swoopes said.

“And I think the reason being is because I feel this ‘wow’ moment of, we really did that,” Swoopes said.

“…and we kept our heads down, and we just worked.”

Before the WNBA launched in 1997, several leagues tried and failed to establish a lasting product. The Women’s Professional Basketball League (WBL) ran from 1978 to 1981 but struggled with financial instability and limited exposure. The Ladies Professional Basketball Association (LPBA) arrived in 1980 as a rival to the WBL. but lasted less than a month before folding. The American Basketball League (ABL), which debuted in 1996 and boasted higher salaries, lasted less than three seasons before declaring bankruptcy.

Swoopes said the current era feels like a rare proof that persistence can actually reshape an industry.

“We did all the things,” Swoopes said.

“…from the very beginning to where we are now. Every player that’s ever come through this league.”

On June 21, 2026, the Liberty and Sparks will meet again on the anniversary of that first game. New York won 67-57 the first time. For this return, ticket prices—at least for some seats—are being rolled back to $5.50 to celebrate. The faces in the game have changed: Kelsey Plum will replace Toler; Ogwumike will replace Leslie; Lobo. who once was a star for the Liberty. will call the game as a broadcaster; and Stewart will now be on the Liberty’s side.

The matchup will be held at Crypto.com Arena, with a capacity just over 19,000.

Even as the league points backward to its founding, it’s clearly also speaking forward. Parker said the WNBA’s growth deserved time to develop.

“A point of emphasis in any sports league is 30 years,” Parker said.

“That’s how usually they judge growth, and so I thought it was unfair that they were judging the WNBA way sooner than a lot of the other five major (men’s) sports leagues.”

Parker credited ownership by players, brands, NIL, and social media for the rise now visible in the 30th season.

“If investment and visibility helped in the first 30 years,” Parker said, “what do the next 30 years look like?”

Bueckers answered in a list of what she wants to keep climbing: national TV coverage. TV deals. advanced CBA negotiations. women making millions of dollars. and salary cap and revenue share increasing—along with the league’s continuing “love for the game and a passion and a respect amongst all women’s sports.”.

On the court. Wilson’s fadeaway in Game 3 still reads like a defining image: the shot falling after a double team. then the refusal to linger in celebration. Off it. the same refusal is showing up as contracts. caps and minimums—rules designed to keep the next generation from having to fight for the basics just to keep dreaming.

For the league’s 30th season, the question isn’t whether women’s basketball belongs in the spotlight. The question now is how fast it can keep turning attention into opportunity—year after year.

WNBA A'ja Wilson collective bargaining agreement WNBPA salary cap supermax 2026 season Jackie Young Aliyah Boston Caitlin Clark media rights expansion fees