Caitlin Clark, WNBA All-Stars wear 'Pay Us What You Owe Us' shirts
One of the main items on the All-Star weekend agenda was a face-to-face meeting between the players and league on collective bargaining agreement negotiations as the current contract expires at the end of the 2025 season. According to multiple players, that meeting did not go well.
"That's one of the things we're in the room fighting for," Clark said Saturday ahead of the All-Star Game. "We should be paid more and hopefully that's the case moving forward as the league continues to grow. I think that's something that's probably the most important thing that we are in the room advocating about."
More than 40 players turned out for the first meeting with league officials in months. Clark said the meeting featured a "great balance of young stars, but also vets" who understand the importance of the moment. Although some players described the talks as a "wasted opportunity" and outright "disrespectful," Clark said the players successfully sent a "powerful" message to league representatives -- there's power in numbers.
"That was the best part of it, being in the room and there's over 40 other players in this league," Clark said, adding there were young stars and veterans. "I'm sure a lot more would've loved to be in there if they were in Indianapolis and I think that's the most powerful thing. All the girls across the league just being in that room together."
OPINION: WNBA should take lesson from U.S. Soccer, pay players before it gets ugly
Clark added: "I think we all have a good understanding that this is very important for our future, the future of the league, for the future of our careers."
Fellow All-Star team captain Napheesa Collier echoed Clark's sentiments and said the high turnout among the players marked "the most participation in league history."
"The players are obviously taking this really seriously," Collier said on Saturday. "I think we had close to 40 players in our league meeting. I think there's a really strong message that we're standing really firm on certain areas that we feel really strongly that we need to improve on and I think we got that message across."
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