2026 WNBA guide: New coaches, new CBA, more from offseason - ESPN

It was a WNBA offseason unlike any other, with a monthslong labor dispute that put everything into a holding pattern.

Even before the season ended Oct. 10 with the Las Vegas Aces winning their third title, three coaches had been dismissed. Then Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier publicly called out WNBA leadership and commissioner Cathy Engelbert, which set the tone for a contentious offseason.

The end of October brought the first of multiple deadline extensions for a collective bargaining agreement. The WNBA did what business it could — holding the draft lottery in November and releasing the schedule in January — but the league and the players' association at times seemed so far apart there were concerns about the 2026 season.

A new CBA was finally reached in March after an intense eight-day negotiating session in New York. The CBA marathon was followed by a roster-building sprint: the expansion draft, free agency and the regular draft took place in a hectic 10-day period in April.

Now, with the WNBA less than two weeks from opening its 30th season, here are 12 things that shaped the offseason.

Date: Sept. 21, 2025

The Seattle Storm moving on from Noelle Quinn after four seasons and a 101-97 record was the first domino to fall in the coaching carousel for the 2026 season. But the biggest coaching change of the offseason came two days later, when the New York Liberty fired Sandy Brondello 11 months after she led the franchise to its first WNBA title. The winningest coach in Liberty history, Brondello was 107-53 in four seasons.

Brondello, who led the Phoenix Mercury to the 2014 WNBA championship, wasn't unemployed for long. The Toronto Tempo, one of two expansion franchises that will play their inaugural seasons