Mercury F and team union rep Satou Sabally said yesterday the CBA proposal the WNBPA received from the league was “honestly a slap in the face,” according to Ryan Young of YAHOO SPORTS. Young noted while specifics of that proposal are not known, Sabally’s comments are not “a great sign whatsoever -- especially with the threat of a lockout coming in the very near future.” They also came amid the latest announcement of expansion in the league. While Sabally said that she “was excited” about the expansion news, she “made it clear that she doesn’t think that’s where the biggest focus should be.” Instead, she “joined calls for expanded rosters and resources” for the people who are in the league right now. Sabally said, “How amazing is that that the league can grow, but how cool would it also be to have a little bit of expansion on rosters?” She added, “Let’s focus on the teams that have everything set up right now, and maybe focus on the teams also that find excuses continuously to lack investment into their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can’t really be sustained” (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/1).
THE OTHER SIDE: YAHOO SPORTS’ Cassandra Negley noted players have “long voiced their desires for larger rosters versus team expansion, citing player health and safety as 10-player rosters and hardship contracts are regular occurrences.” Lynx F Bridget Carleton said, “When teams are still playing with nine players, but there’s 18 teams, it’s a little bit challenging. So I think there’s other areas that need to improve as well.” She compared the schedules of the WNBA and NBA, “finding similarity in games played per week.” Both Fever G Sophie Cunningham and Sabally said that in ongoing CBA negotiations, the focus “is on taking care of the players actively in the league and not so much the prospect of expansion” (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/1).
