The NWSLPA has Satou Sabally’s attention — Stephanie White talks Connecticut Sun

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But there may be no more interested set of observers than the WNBA players, who are widely expected to opt out of their current CBA following the 2024 season, which would trigger an early end to the current CBA following the 2025 season. This is coming at a moment the league, as we’ve covered at great length here, is about to be flush with cash from a new media rights deal.

So it was striking to me that when I asked Sabally what was the biggest takeaway for her from the new agreement was — though she acknowledged with a laugh, later in our interview, that she’d noted the salary caps many times as large over the rest of the 2020s as the current WNBA cap — it had nothing to do with money.

“I would say safety,” Sabally said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “What stood out to me is really that they want to pay attention to the workload management and safeguard their athletes, because we do have more traveling and more games, and with more media rights, it feels the league will always try to put in more games. So I really love the emphasis on really paying attention to the athlete and their health, well-being. So we can even play for a longer time.”

Sabally is a hugely significant asset to the WNBPA, where she is co-chair of the CBA Committee. She spoke with excitement about the NWSLPA’s new agreement with the NWSL last Thursday night, but also requested the opportunity to extend her remarks after more fully digesting it, which led to a follow up conversation Tuesday.

Her approach to the current moment is nuanced. She’s concerned about player safety, and spoke about the number of games increasing — with the pressure on player bodies that goes with it — while at the same time recognizing that an increase in the season footprint helped the WNBA maximize its media rights haul.

That pressure, to increase beyond the 44-game schedule in 2025, is something Sabally believes needs to be tempered by limitations on things like back-to-back games. It’s addressed in the NWSL’s new agreement, with everything from game frequency to a mandatory midseason break part of the new pact. (The WNBA is ahead of the NWSL on charters, which are only sometimes triggered by certain conditions in the soccer league, while universal in the WNBA.)

“I’m not a fan of back-to-backs,” Sabally said. “I know that these are sometimes necessary, but I do think back-to-back games are just not really beneficial for athletes. And then I feel like there can’t be really a discussion around player load and management.”

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Another area where there would seem to be agreement between Sabally and the positioning of the WNBA comes in the sports calendar. One reason WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she believed it made sense to negotiate the new media rights deal with the NBA was the complementary footprint the two leagues enjoy. From Sabally’s perspective, that is a feature, not a bug.

“I think the length of the WNBA season fits really well into the sports culture of the States,” Sabally said. “And I like our length. I really enjoy having a specific amount of time in the summer where you can focus and really dial in.”

But she noted the downside of prioritization, the rule that forces players to training camp in order to play in the league, and it was here that the greatest shift was evident.

For those who may not remember: back in 2020, the agreement to increase salaries significantly came in exchange for an agreement by the players to report to camp earlier and earlier. This was a logical outgrowth of the way the league saw the two benefits. Players get more money, reducing their need to make money overseas, keeping them in market for longer, which led to increased attention and exposure, generating more revenue for the league — a virtuous cycle.

But Sabally sees that through a different lens, one that suggests, again, that it won’t be about the money nearly as much as it will be about the players feeling respected. For instance, the concept of players having the ability to veto any trade looked less to Sabally like a financial win, and more about the impact it will have on a group of 20-something and 30-something women, along with Diana Taurasi, to make life decisions. The same is true for NWSL’s abolishing of the player draft, and universal free agency.

“It’s refreshing in a player sense, because you can actually make some family [plans],” Sabally said. “You can actually plan on where you want to be. But… I don’t know how it would look in the WNBA, but I think it’s really interesting. So I will follow it in a in a soccer league, and see how it goes.”

She won’t be the only one paying close attention.

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This week in women’s basketball

Jonathan Tannenwald with Breanna Stewart on what another Olympic gold means in the context of this huge year for women’s basketball.

Keia Clarke talks WNBA growth.

Love how Jackie Powell captured Kennedy Burke’s essential worth to the Liberty here.

Terrific Cassandra Negley on how the Olympic break is powering the Indiana Fever.

Maya Moore has huge praise for Napheesa Collier, and you shouldn’t argue with Maya Moore.

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Five at The IX: Stephanie White, Connecticut Sun

Locked On Women’s Basketball: Stephanie White has the Sun in title contention once again

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