'United' WNBA All-Stars wear 'Pay Us What You Owe Us' shirts

INDIANAPOLIS -- As WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert awarded Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier her 2025 WNBA All-Star game MVP trophy, chants of "pay them!" rained down from the sold-out crowd of over 16,000 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The noise was booming -- some of the loudest chants of the night. A small grin spread across Collier's face.

The fans were echoing the message players sent during warmups on Saturday night as they revealed black shirts saying "Pay Us What You Owe Us." The collective demonstration came two days after over 40 players convened with the league in their latest round of collective bargaining agreement negotiations, a meeting that players thought didn't result in the progress they are hoping for with a late October deadline looming.

Instead, as a national audience tuned into one of the most highly anticipated WNBA All-Star Games to date, the players brought into the public eye the fight they have been forging behind the scenes: securing higher salaries and a larger piece of the revenue pie.

"That was a powerful moment," Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum said of the crowd support. "We didn't, at least as players, we didn't know that was going to happen. So it was a genuine surprise. Those chants tonight, those signs, it just shows that as players we are united, but the fans are united in believing what we're seeking."

"The fans making that chant," Collier added, "that gave me chills."

Knowing they wanted to make their own statement Saturday night, the players gathered for a closed-door meeting that morning where they collectively decided wearing shirts would get their message across in the most clear and concise way.

"We wanted to do something that was united as a collective and I thought that it's a very powerful moment and got the point across," Plum said. "Sometimes you don't have to say anything."

This isn't the first time WNBA players have used their platforms to make a public, collective stand. In the 2020 bubble they wore several shirts to support the Black Lives Matter protests, and at All-Star weekend in 2022 they came out for the second half wearing Brittney Griner jerseys while she was being detained in Russia.

Making another statement at this year's All-Star weekend wasn't by accident. It's the only time of year where all of the league's most prominent players are in the same room. And on the heels of Thursday's CBA negotiations, the players felt the moment couldn't have been better.

The display ended up overshadowing an otherwise boring All-Star Game, and with the support of onlookers in the arena and from afar, the players hope it'll apply more pressure on the league as talks continue.

"The mission was accomplished because we built an incredible amount of awareness this weekend," Plum said.

Players have said a major holdup in negotiations has been salary structure and revenue share: According to WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, the league and union are proposing two different systems, with the league wanting a fixed percentage and the players wanting "a better share where our salaries grow with the business, and not just a fixed percentage over time."

With the WNBA seeing tremendous growth in recent years -- including a new $2.2 billion media deal and skyrocketing expansion fees of $250 million -- the players want a different salary structure that, in Collier's words, gives them a "[larger] piece of the pie that we helped create."

"We see the growth of the league, and as it stands, the current salary system is not really paying us what we're owed," Ogwumike said of the meaning of the shirt slogan. "And we want to be able to have that fair share moving forward, especially as we see all of the investment going in, and we want to be able to have our salaries reflected in a structure that makes sense for us."

The union announced on social media that officially licensed "Pay Us What You Owe Us" shirts are on sale for the public.

"The players are what is building this brand and this league," Collier said. "There is no league without the players, and past, present, the ones coming up, they're the ones that have put in the blood, sweat and tears for the new money that's coming in."

With the second half of the WNBA season resuming Tuesday -- and a competitive playoff race on the horizon -- the players will look to carry forward the momentum they built this week in Indianapolis.

Ogwumike and Engelbert both reiterated Saturday that they are optimistic a deal can be agreed upon this year.

"That's the plan," Ogwumike said. "We're doing whatever it takes to get a good deal done. That's exactly what we want to do."