All Stars And No Pay?
What are All Star Games in the WNBA, how does voting take place, some stats from this years roster, and the significance of the 2025 All Star game.
In a tale as old as time, women in basketball still aren’t getting their dues. Last week, the WNBA hosted its annual All Star game in Indiana and the players wore T-shirts with the tagline, “Pay Us What You Owe Us” as a statement against the association during their warm-ups.
But first, what is an All Star game?
It is a kind of ‘exhibition’ game where the outcome does not affect a team's standing in the regular season of the league. All Stars bring the WNBA’s highest performers—’the stars among stars’—under one roof for a weekend to compete in a no-stakes game, celebrate the best talent, rake in viewership, and publicise the WNBA. That’s why All Star games are the best chance for players to draw attention to issues in the league.
The WNBA identifies these high performers through a combination of media, player and fan voting systems. Fans account for 50% of the votes, while player and media panel voting comprises 25% each. The top 2 highest voted players are chosen as team captains and draft their respective 12-member teams on live television (these are quite fun to watch). This year, the captains were Caitlin Clark (from the Indiana Fever) and Napheesa Collier (from the Minnesota Lynx).
Besides having the highest voted all star (Caitlin Clark) in the league on their team, this year, the Indiana Fever has the highest number of All Stars overall and the highest number of All Stars in the top 10 ranks. Second in line is the New York Liberty, with a total of 4 All Stars, 2 of which were listed in the top 10.
So why was the 2025 All Star game so significant?
The 2025 All Star game took place shortly after an unsuccessful yet major meeting between the WNBA and the WNBPA—the union representing the league’s players (unions are common across professional sports platforms in the USA). Every 4 years, both organisations negotiate the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)—an agreement to get the best possible deal for all players and ensure fair wages across the board.
It is no secret that the WNBA has grown significantly, and players are demanding an increase in pay to match this growth. In this year’s CBA negotiation—a few days before the All Star game—, players put forth several priorities including increased salaries and requests to soften the maximum cap on salaries, among others. Players are not asking to be paid the same salaries as NBA players, but are pushing for a higher percentage share of the revenue earned by the league. Currently, WNBA players receive less than 10% of the league revenue. Players of the NBA receive nearly 50%. Many WNBA players even participate in other basketball leagues in the off-season to supplement their low salaries from the WNBA.
But after an unsuccessful meeting between the organisations before the All Star Games, the WNBPA player representatives decided to take matters into their own hands and draw media attention to the matter with “Pay Us What You Owe Us” taglines printed on their warm-up T-shirts. They have till the end of October till CBA discussions conclude this year. The league is growing at an unprecedented rate. It is only fair that player wages match this growth.
To read more about this topic, I highly recommend this article by the Guardian and this one by NBC News.
Loveee the charts