Angel Reese spoke vocally about her frustration with the meetings between WNBA players and the league on Thursday as the league heads towards a potential lockout

Angel Reese at the 2025 WNBA All-Star game practice(Image: Getty Images)

WNBA players, including Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, met with league commissioner Cathy Engelbert and a handful of ownership representatives in Indiana ahead of the 2025 All-Star game. It comes after Clark made good on her All-Star promise after having to withdraw from the game through injury.

Players expressed a sense of urgency: After opting out of the league’s CBA at the end of the 2024 season, they have until October 31 to negotiate a new one. “We’re on a time crunch,” Minnesota Lynx All-Star captain Napheesa Collier said.Chicago Sky All-Star Angel Reese called proponents of the new proposal “disrespectful” in a passionate answer during her pre-All-Star press conference as the WNBA barrels towards a potential lockout.”Obviously, women’s basketball is skyrocketing. And it’s important for us to get what we want now, not just now, but for the future as well,” she started.

“It was an eye-opener for me … hearing the language of things, not things that I was happy to hear,” Reese said about what owners brought to the table. “It was disrespectful … the proposal that we were sent back.”

“This is for the next generation,” Reese continued. “It’s important to be able to be vocal. If I sit back, it looks like I don’t care. I know my voice and I know my platform. You love it or you hate it, I know it gets views. So I just know that I had to be vocal. I have to sit at that table one day.”

She wasn’t the only player to take offense to the counter-offer from the league, which was dubbed by Phoenix Mercury star as “a slap in the face.”

I asked Angel Reese about the CBA negotiations and the most important steps going forward now.Reese: “It’s bigger than me. … We’re not gonna stop until we get what we want, and yesterday’s meeting really woke me up to the eyes of we aren’t getting what we deserve.” pic.twitter.com/oxjPPYAyu4 — Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) July 18, 2025

Clark, who won’t play in the 2025 All-Star game after re-injuring her quad against the Connecticut Sun earlier this week, spoke ahead of the meeting on Thursday.

“Obviously, the meetings that are going to happen in Indianapolis are gonna be really important. And although I’m not our team rep or on the committee, I’m still trying to understand and engage as much as possible,” she said

“Obviously, this is my second year in the league, but also this is also a very important time for our league, and where it’s going to continue to grow. So I’m certainly looking forward to those meetings, and being in them.”

“And I think everybody in our league is, to help these CBA talks to continue to move forward. So [they] should be very important for us on Thursday.”

The WNBA All-Star game at Clark’s home, Gainbridge Fieldhouse, is set for Saturday night.