CHICAGO — The WNBA regular season resumes Tuesday after a relatively successful All-Star Weekend that saw record demand and attendance. But a problem that predates the league’s recent growth looms over the season’s restart.
At Saturday’s game, several All-Star players brought up the tight turnaround between the All-Star Weekend and restart of the regular season.
There were six games and 12 teams in action Wednesday, the last day of regular season games before the All-Star break. There will be six games when the season resumes Tuesday, featuring nine of the teams that played less than a week ago.
“It’s a tough turnaround, and the Fever probably have one of the quickest turnarounds,” Caitlin Clark said after Saturday’s game. “We played on Wednesday, and I’m going home tonight and I’m flying to Seattle tomorrow.”
Most players arrived in Chicago on Thursday ahead of Friday’s 3-Point Contest and Shooting Stars, while the game was Saturday.
WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart pointed at the schedule when asked about the players’ general lackluster effort during the All-Star games.
“The schedule, that’s something that we need to just continue to work on,” Stewart said before the game. “Speaking for myself specifically, we played Wednesday then we play Tuesday. Trying to find the right balance of rest, recovery, and joy, have fun, but also being competitive.”
The All-Star teams played little defense in this year’s game, combining for 251 points. While that’s less than last year’s record of 282, it’s still significantly more than the usual WNBA game that hovers around 170–180 total points.
The WNBA has had competitive exhibitions in 2021 and 2024, but those games pit a select group of WNBA All-Stars with Team USA as preparation for the Olympics.
How the NBA Does It
WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike was asked after Saturday’s game whether it would be better for players to be financially incentivized to play and win, similar to how it’s done in the NBA. She acknowledged that a “disparity” in bonuses might be worth considering in the next CBA negotiations, but pointed back to the tight schedule as another factor in the lack of effort.
“I think if we’re doing that, I think we need to commit to more rest time,” Ogwumike said Saturday. “A lot of us play on Tuesday and a lot played on Wednesday. Being able to incorporate more time for the All-Star break. It’s a break for everyone but who’s playing in the game. So I can imagine if we up compensation and also give more time, then we’ll probably see a different game.”
In the new WNBA collective bargaining agreement, each All-Star Game participant receives $15,000, while only the MVP gets an additional prize ($20,000). In the NBA, a player on the winning team receives $100,000 while players on the losing team get $25,000. The NBA also extended its All-Star break starting the 2014–15 season, giving teams more than a week between regular season games.
Despite these changes, the NBA has still struggled with player effort during the All-Star Game, until this February, when it changed its format to USA vs. World.
Scheduling is hardly a new issue for the WNBA. Last year, Sabrina Ionescu also blamed the schedule for players’ lack of effort. Ogwumike had similar sentiments in 2023.
WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson told Front Office Sports that the All-Star Weekend scheduling issue was raised in the last two CBA negotiation cycles, but the league was not receptive to any change.
“The players raised the issue of scheduling days off following All-Star Weekend during both the 2020 and 2026 collective bargaining negotiations,” Jackson said. “In each instance, we proposed additional recovery time after All-Star activities, but the league was not open to that proposal.”
The WNBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
