WNBA legend Nancy Lieberman credits Caitlin Clark’s arrival with helping drive attention that made the league’s new seven-year CBA possible—one that brings higher salaries, a bigger salary cap, and a new revenue-sharing model. The agreement, tentatively reache
The moment Nancy Lieberman talks about Caitlin Clark, she doesn’t treat it like a feel-good story.
She frames it like a turning point.
“I would have punched Chennedy Clark in the face if I were Caitlin Clark,” Lieberman said, recalling the intensity around Clark’s rise. Then she pivoted to what she believes actually changed the league’s financial future: Clark’s arrival and the surge of attention that followed.
Lieberman credits Clark for the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, a deal that she says has helped push player salaries “much higher.”
“She’s a generational player. She came with a fan base of millions, and it’s helping the league,” Lieberman said. “You can’t deny she brings the media.”
That attention, Lieberman argued, is not just about one star—it’s about what comes after the spotlight lands. “They don’t get the $2.2 billion collective bargaining agreement, honestly, without her being there,” she said.
The agreement Lieberman is referring to is the WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association’s tentative new CBA, reached in March. The deal is set as a transformative seven-year labor agreement that delivers major salary increases, a larger salary cap, and more player benefits.
At the center of the package is the first-ever revenue-sharing model. It averages 20% of league and team revenue. The financial impact is stark in the way Lieberman described it: the new WNBA CBA “nearly quintuples the team salary cap” and lays out sweeping upgrades to player benefits. including areas tied to family planning and facility standards.
Lieberman said Clark’s influence doesn’t narrow the league’s focus. It broadens it.
“You can’t deny she brings the media,” she repeated. “You’re talking about her. You probably weren’t talking about anybody four years ago.”
To explain how that changes the WNBA once the season begins, Lieberman compared Clark to the type of game-changing attention that helped define other eras in sports.
“She’s done her job, just like Tiger did, just like Michael Jordan did,” Lieberman said. “She’s done her job.”
Then she brought the conversation back to the WNBA itself—naming players whose visibility, she said, increases when the league rides a national conversation.
“Now, you take A’ja, you take Napheesa, you take Stewie, you take Kelsey Plum, and you take Sabrina, and all these other great athletes, and now you put them together — that’s very formidable,” Lieberman said. “These young players that are coming into the league have this incredible fan base.”
Lieberman also pointed to the way top college players arriving in the league now carry attention—and money—built from NIL deals.
“They were making millions of dollars in college with their NILs, so they just brought that to the league,” she said.
That, in her view, is why fans and critics shouldn’t respond with resentment. “We shouldn’t be jealous of them,” Lieberman said. “We should celebrate them, not tolerate them.”
She made the same point again when shifting to how marquee schedules shape the way people watch.
“You see the schedule and you get amped up for the Fever because you’re dealing with some of the most famous players in the league,” Lieberman said.
The Indiana Fever have carried those expectations this year—especially because of Clark’s record-setting college career at Iowa before entering the WNBA in 2024. In the current moment, though, Lieberman acknowledged the team’s uneven start.
Clark’s Fever are off to a “surprisingly underwhelming start” to the 2026 season amid championship expectations. After how close the team got last year, the team’s record through the season’s opening stretch is 6-5, and Clark has seen a “seeming decline in shooting accuracy.”
In 2025, the Fever came one game shy of reaching the WNBA Finals, even while Clark was sidelined with injury. Lieberman believes that history can still translate into a stronger finish.
“But Lieberman believes the Fever will be ‘fine’ as the season develops,” with her saying teams now circle Fever games the way players once circled matchups with Michael Jordan.
“It’s okay, you’ve created a reputation for yourself, you’ve been able to exceed the reputation, and people want to play against the best,” Lieberman said.
She linked that effect to other stars and teams as well, including Angel Reese and the WNBA’s Aces.
“Same with Angel Reese. So, it’s just part of it, people used to get amped for Michael Jordan. It’s okay,” Lieberman said. “It’s like the Aces,” she added. “You look at the schedule and you go, ‘We’re playing A’ja Wilson,’ and you get amped up for this. Same with Angel Reese.”
For Lieberman, the through-line is clear: Clark didn’t only change attention—she helped raise the stakes enough to reshape what the league can offer its players, and what fans now expect from the entire sport.
Nancy Lieberman Caitlin Clark WNBA CBA revenue sharing WNBA salary cap Fever Indiana Fever A’ja Wilson Angel Reese
So basically Caitlin fixed the WNBA paycheck situation? lol
I swear they always say it’s “because of her” but meanwhile the league still doesn’t feel like it gets enough coverage. Like are they gonna keep that 20% thing or is it just temporary until the hype dies?
Nancy Lieberman saying she woulda punched “Chennedy Clark” or whatever… like is that real or just a quote they chopped up? Also I don’t get how one player = a whole CBA. Money just magically shows up?
I mean Caitlin Clark definitely helped bring eyes, but I’m confused why they’re acting like the CBA was just waiting around for her to arrive. Revenue sharing sounds good though, especially if salaries actually go up. The “nearly quintuples the cap” part is wild, I hope it’s not one of those numbers that only applies to a couple teams.