Dawn Staley on Aces’ Win Over Fever: “Basketball Is a Black Legacy — It Was Built by Us, For Us”

In the wake of the Las Vegas Aces’ commanding victory over the Indiana Fever, South Carolina head coach and basketball legend Dawn Staley delivered a powerful message about the deeper cultural legacy of the game — especially as it relates to race, identity, and the fight for equity in sports.

Comparing the Aces’ win to A’ja Wilson “defeating white supremacy,” Staley didn’t hold back:
“Basketball is a Black legacy — it was built by us, for us,” she said.

The Context Behind the Quote

The statement comes amidst a growing cultural conversation about race, representation, and power within women’s basketball. The matchup between the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever was more than just a contest between two elite teams — it symbolized a clash of narratives.

A’ja Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP and face of the Aces, has long been a beacon of excellence, grace, and strength in the league. On the other side, Caitlin Clark, the Fever’s rookie star and NCAA’s all-time leading scorer, has captured media attention with her record-breaking performances — often hailed as a savior of women’s basketball.

But for many, that narrative is incomplete. While Clark’s rise is celebrated, the consistent excellence of Black women like Wilson has often been overlooked, undervalued, or under-promoted. Staley’s comments appear to speak directly to that imbalance.

A History of Erasure — and Excellence

Staley, who coached both Wilson and Clark in college — Wilson at South Carolina and Clark as an opponent at Iowa — has long used her platform to advocate for racial justice and equity in sports. Her statement calls out the ongoing erasure of Black contributions to a sport that was shaped, defined, and elevated by Black athletes.

“From Rucker Park to the WNBA, Black culture has been the heartbeat of basketball,” Staley has previously said. “We don’t just play the game — we are the game.”

A’ja Wilson’s Quiet Dominance

While Wilson’s accolades are numerous — multiple MVP awards, championships, Olympic medals — her name is often left out of mainstream headlines, even as she dominates on the court and leads off it with humility and activism. The framing of Clark as the “face” of the league has raised uncomfortable questions about whose talent is celebrated and whose is merely tolerated.

Staley’s analogy — comparing Wilson’s win to a symbolic triumph over white supremacy — is provocative, but it also underscores a broader truth: recognition in sports is not always about merit. It’s also about race, media narratives, and who gets to be seen as the hero.

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t about pitting players against each other. Both Wilson and Clark are generational talents, and women’s basketball is stronger because of both. But Staley’s comments highlight a persistent inequity: the struggle for Black women to be seen fully — not just as athletes, but as cultural leaders, icons, and originators of the very game they dominate.

As women’s basketball continues its meteoric rise, the conversation must include not only who plays the game — but who gets credit for building it.

WNBA players want more money — and a growing roster of stars like Napheesa Collier and Caitlin Clark are calling out the league commissioner to get it

Fears of a WNBA lockout loom as the players union and the league still haven’t reached a new collective bargaining agreement

 Napheesa Collier, left, of the Minnesota Lynx and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever are among WNBA players questioning the league’s leadership at this crucial moment.PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES 

WNBA players have been asking for a salary bump for years, especially as professional women’s basketball has exploded in popularity. Now, some of the league’s biggest stars have a message for their commissioner: Time’s up. And a league-wide lockout looks more possible each day.

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier went viral this week after delivering a prepared statement blasting WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on a variety of league issues — including accusing her of being unwilling to raise player salaries to be more competitive in the modern sports landscape.

“We have the best league in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But we have the worst leadership in the world,” said Collier, the runner-up for MVP. “Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders.”

Collier’s nearly five-minute statement was notable for being one of the most candid and pointed comments an active professional athlete has ever said about an active league commissioner. But she also shared the details of private conversations she allegedly had with Engelbert about player salaries, and how young stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese are driving millions of dollars in league revenue while being paid less than $80,000 on their rookie contracts. By contrast, the NBA’s No. 1 overall pick, Cooper Flagg, will make $13.8 million as a rookie.

Collier claimed Engelbert’s response was, “[Clark] should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” And in that same conversation, Collier alleged that the WNBA commissioner told her, “Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.”

The WNBA was not immediately available for comment, but in a subsequent statement, Engelbert addressed the situation, saying: “I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and this work will not waver.”

Now this public fight between WNBA players and the league is poised to spill into a labor fight — and potentially a lockout — if not resolved soon.

“Those statements were pretty explosive, and unlike anything I can remember in sports,” Mike Rueda, corporate sports attorney at Withers, told MarketWatch. “We are at a significant point in the evolution of the WNBA where its athletes understand the value of the league.”

So how did the WNBA get here?

Displeased with their low pay after the 2024 season, during which the WNBA grew exponentially in popularity — including doubling revenue from $102 million to $200 million over just five years — the players’ union opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, which expires on Oct. 31.

If a new CBA isn’t reached by Halloween, then a lockout — or a temporary shutdown of the league initiated by the owners — would ensue. This means that no games or league activities would be played for an undetermined amount of time. A lockout would not affect the upcoming WNBA Finals, which will conclude in the next couple of weeks. But one could leave the 2026 season in doubt, with training camps scheduled to open next April, and the regular season slated to start May 16.

Lockouts frequently lead to some games being canceled. Nearly all other major U.S. sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL, have experienced labor stoppages at some point this century — but this would be the first lockout in the WNBA’s history.

Of course, opting out of the collective bargaining agreement doesn’t guarantee there will be a lockout, but that scenario remains on the table if an agreement isn’t reached. And the likelihood of a deal is looking grim; the two sides — the WNBA players union and the league — have yet to come to an agreement over the past 12 months.

While Collier expressed a series of complaints that the WNBA players want addressed, chief among them was higher salaries leaguewide, something that Rueda said is likely the “biggest sticking point” in negotiations.

The highest-paid players in the WNBA are Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell ($249,244),  Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale and Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd ($249,032). But most players on their rookie contracts, including young stars like Clark and Reese, are locked into contracts paying them less than $80,000 a year.

At the same time, WNBA players are seeing eye-popping numbers in the growth of their league. The WNBA’s revenue was reportedly more than $200 million in 2024, and the league recently announced a major expansion, growing the league from 12 teams in 2024 to 18 teams by 2030. The new WNBA franchises — Golden State debuted this year while Toronto and Portland will begin play in 2026 — come with a corresponding $925 million in expansion fees to be paid to the WNBA by 2030.

‘Players are driving attendance, attention, valuations are increasing and expansion fees are increasing. They know their worth.’ — Mike Rueda, corporate sports attorney at Withers

“There’s some hope for fairly significant revenue streams from there,” Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross who specializes in sports, told MarketWatch about WNBA expansion.

“Players are driving attendance and attention, valuations are increasing and expansion fees are increasing,” Rueda said. “They know their worth.”

What’s more, WNBA players only split 9.3% of total league revenue, according to Bloomberg and former Los Angeles Sparks player Chiney Ogwumike, whose sister Nneka serves as union president. That split is far less favorable to players than what other major sports leagues earn. For example, NBA players in aggregate receive between 49% and 51% of basketball-related income; NFL players get 48% of all league revenue; and NHL players get 50% of league revenue.

While it’s unclear what percentage of a revenue split WNBA players want, it’s clear from public comments by many of them that this is an important bargaining issue.

“It’s time for WNBA players to get a higher percentage of the league’s basketball-related income,” Chiney Ogwumike wrote in a blog post in the Players Tribune after the union opted out of its CBA last year. “They deserve much more than the 10% that the players earn now. And when that happens, the rookie salary won’t look crazy, instead it would hit a solid six figures.”

Collier’s pointed comments to the WNBA commissioner this week have galvanized other players, including A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. The four-time WNBA MVP derided the commissioner’s alleged comments, and backed Collier — also known as “Phee” — for standing up to league leadership. “I was honestly disgusted by the comments that Cathy [Engelbert] made,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m gonna ride with Phee always. We gotta continue to stand on business.”

‘This is straight up the most important moment in this league’s history… This is a moment we have to capitalize on.’ — Caitlin Clark

Clark echoed that same sentiment in comments shared on Thursday.

“I have great respect for Phee, and I think she made a lot of very valid points,” Clark told media members Thursday. “I think what people need to understand, we need great leadership in this time across all levels. This is straight up the most important moment in this league’s history… This is a moment we have to capitalize on.”

These pointed comments by three of the league’s best players indicate that the players’ union and the league are not on the best of terms, and they have a long way to go before reaching a deal that could avoid a lockout next season.

“It could be a precursor to a lockout,” said Rueda. “Players are making significant points and taking an aggressive position. There is a significant gap in what they are expecting… The WNBA needs to take their position seriously and come to the table in a way players see it as appreciated.”