Angel Reese trolled for threatening to sit out WNBA games if next CBA doesn't secure players higher pay

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Angel Reese is the ultimate WNBA heel, and honestly, that’s a compliment.

In a league that often struggles to grab mainstream attention, she’s the "bad girl" that keeps the headlines rolling. Whether she’s trash-talking, stirring up rivalries, or just being unapologetically herself, Reese seems to court a certain amount of controversy that keeps eyes on the WNBA. And that’s probably what the league needs.

Before she and Caitlin Clark came along, the WNBA was barely a blip on the sports radar. Sure, the league has been around since the ’90s, but it never pulled the kind of mainstream buzz it’s getting now.

Reese's latest stunt involves threatening to sit out of the league if she doesn't get better pay, Whiskey Riff reported.

Angel Reese trolled as she threatens potential strike over WNBA salaries

Angel Reese recently brought Dallas Wings guard DiJonai Carrington onto her podcast, 'Unapologetically Angel', and the two got real about the league's future. With the current WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire at the end of next season, the players opted out early, hoping for a better deal.

The 2025 season will still operate under the current CBA rules, but a new agreement needs to be in place before 2026. Reese and Carrington made it clear that if the league doesn’t increase salaries, they’re ready to sit out.

Reese put it bluntly, "I’ve got to get in the meetings because I’m hearing like, 'If y’all don’t give us what we want, we sitting out.'"

Carrington backed her up, adding, "That’s a possibility. For real."

But the harsh reality is that a WNBA strike might not move the needle much. Fans were quick to point that out, with many on social media throwing shade left and right.

One said, "Oh no, the 34 people watching would be devastated," and another wrote, "Nobody cares." 

"Of all the things I don’t care about, I don’t care about a WNBA strike the hardest," a person quipped, while someone else pointed out, "You realise you don't get paid for sitting out, I presume." 

"Guess it's time to get a real job, then," someone else insisted. "Nobody & I mean nobody, would miss the WNBA," another offered.

Not enough money raised by the WNBA

That's not to say the WNBA hasn't grown. More people are watching, but it’s still not profitable. The league is massively subsidized by the NBA, and it wouldn’t be close to surviving without that financial support. Last year, the WNBA was projected to lose $40 million—and experts say it won’t be turning a profit anytime soon.

So, while it’s fair for players like Reese to want higher salaries (rookies like her and Clark are only making around $75,000 a year), where’s the leverage?

The league doesn’t generate enough money to pay more, no matter how much players demand it. Right now, WNBA players get around 9% of league revenue, which is low—but again, the league isn’t exactly rolling in cash.

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