Time Is of the Essence,' Breanna Stewart Discusses Latest in WNBA CBA Negotiations

New York Liberty star and WNBPA vice president Breanna Stewart believes that the WNBA and its players are running short on time to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.

"Time is of the essence," she told CBS Sports' Jack Maloney. "... I think that both sides are very aware that this has gone on way longer than it needed to. But hopefully we can really start to be hearing each other and they hear us on things that are non-negotiables."

With training camps set to open on April 19, preseason games on April 25 and opening night on May 8, the clock is ticking.

Per Maloney's report, the WNBA's latest proposal included "first-year players and players on a minimum salary [being] provided a one-bedroom apartment for the first three years of the CBA, while developmental players would be provided a studio apartment."

The league also reportedly previously agreed to add two developmental player roster spots, though those players would be limited in how many WNBA appearances they could make (similar to NBA two-way contracts).

While those concessions reportedly are being made by the league, Stewart said there is still a gap between the sides when it comes to revenue sharing. It's fairly wide—Maloney noted that the WNBA is offering to raise the salary cap to $5 million and max salary to $1.5 million, with players receiving 70 percent of net revenue, or the remaining revenue after league costs are removed.

The WNBPA, meanwhile, is reportedly seeking a $10.5 million salary cap, max salary of $2.5 million and 30 percent of gross revenue.

Per ESPN Kevin Pelton, "The WNBA's proposal would introduce a model similar to the NBA, where players get 50 percent of net revenue after subtracting expenses. The big difference is that fixed costs like travel, support personnel and arena rent make up a higher percentage of income in the WNBA than the NBA. As a result, the WNBPA estimates that the WNBA's proposal would provide them less than 15 percent of gross revenue."

The WNBA is growing in popularity at an impressive clip, and players can make a strong argument that they deserve a bigger piece of the pie. Surely neither side wants a work stoppage that would interfere with that momentum and potentialy prevent further growth of the game.