Angel Reese calls out conservative after saying players could sit out WNBA games to negotiate higher salaries

Reese has said she can’t afford to pay her bills with her WNBA salary

WNBA player Angel Reese ignited a social media firestorm after claiming players are prepared to sit out games to demand higher salaries during her podcast Friday.

Reese and fellow WNBA player DiJonai Carrington addressed the next WNBA collective bargaining agreement.

“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,’” Reese said.

Carrington added, “That’s a possibility.”

Reese has griped about her financial situation in the past.

“The WNBA don’t pay my bills at all. I don’t even think it pays one of my bills. Literally,” Reese said.

Reese’s comments incited heated debate on social media about a WNBA player strike resulting in higher salaries. The WNBA has never turned a profit in its existence and has been subsidized by the NBA.

Reese got in on the discussion when she called out conservative influencer AKA on X for a post that Reese said falsely claimed she demanded to be paid as much as NBA players.

“I never said anything about the NBA. We are prepared to stay at the negotiating table for as long as it takes,” Reese said.

AKA’s original post has since been deleted.

Reese signed a four-year, $324,383 rookie contract ahead of her first WNBA season in 2024. She made under $75,000 in her first year and will make less than that in 2025.

In October, Reese admitted she couldn’t afford to pay her bills based on that salary in an Instagram live video.

“I’m living beyond my means. Hating pays them bills, baby. I just hope you know the WNBA don’t pay my bills at all,” she said. “I don’t even think that pays one of my bills. Literally, I’m trying to think of my rent for where I stay at. Let me do the math real quick. I don’t even know my (WNBA) salary, $74,000?”

Reese said she is paying $8,000 for rent.

“Babe, if y’all thought… That WNBA check don’t pay a thing,” she added. “Did that even pay my car note? … I wouldn’t even be able to eat a sandwich with that. I wouldn’t even be able to eat. I wouldn’t be able to live.”

The WNBA players union opted out of its current collective bargaining agreement in October, two years before its expiration.

The current CBA will still cover the 2025 season, so the two sides have a year to negotiate a new agreement.