NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that WNBA players will get a «big increase» in salaries in their new collective bargaining agreement, but pointed to «absolute numbers» as the way to measure that growth as opposed to share of revenue.
«I think share isn't the right way to look at it because there's so much more revenue in the NBA,» Silver said on the «Today Show.» «I think you should look at absolute numbers in terms of what they are making. They are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining and they deserve it.»
The WNBPA opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement a year ago this week and has since been negotiating a new one with the current deal set to expire in less than two weeks on Oct. 31.
On an Instagram story, the WNBPA reposted a clip of Silver's comments featuring him repeating on a loop, «I think share isn't the right way to look at it» and the caption, «Don't want to share?» while tagging Silver.
A big holdup in negotiations, players have said, has been the different ways each side believes players' salaries should be determined amid a tremendous era of growth for the league.
Players are pushing for a system in which the percentage of revenue that goes toward salaries grows with the business — more akin to the NBA, where the salary cap is determined by the basketball-related income (BRI), with players taking in about half of that mark as dictated by their CBA.
Players say the league's proposals, by contrast, have featured a salary cap that increases by a fixed rate over time, as it is in the current CBA, where the cap increases by 3% annually.
The Phoenix Mercury's Satou Sabally said during the WNBA Finals that a recent proposal from the league makes the players
Read more on espn.com
espn.com