Diary of a WNBA negotiator
5/9/202629 min
Today the WNBA season tips off, but Dallas Wings veteran forward Alysha Clark has already won a high-stakes competition. She – and a Nobel Prize winning economist – were on the team that negotiated a ground-breaking contract for the players. And Alysha wrote all about it in her journal.
Alysha is the oldest player in the league – and when she started she was making a yearly salary of about $36,400. The players flew economy, the rookies in middle seats. They doubled up in hotel rooms. The league was just starting out, wasn’t bringing in money, and, as Alysha says, “That's just what you got.”
Jump forward to 2025 and fans are crowding into stadiums, games are on primetime TV, and the WNBA has a 3.1 billion dollar media rights deal.
So when the players’ contract came up for renewal, they had a once in a generation opportunity to change the future for all of women’s basketball. Maybe all of women's sports. Today on the show, we hear Alysha’s minute by minute account of what it’s like to be a rookie doing high-stakes bargaining. It came right down to the buzzer.
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This episode was produced by Emma Peaslee and Willa Rubin. It was edited by Marianne McCune. It was fact-checked by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Jimmy Keeley and James Willets. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.
Music: NPR Source Audio - "Nights Like This," "Funk Dive," and "Tropical Heat"
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsErika Beras· Host0:00
For a growing number of women, single motherhood feels like the right choice.
Alysha Clark· Guest0:04
She locked eyes with me, and that was the moment that I knew we were about to have one hell of a life together.
Erika Beras· Host0:09
On the Sunday Story, how these single mothers are making it work. Listen now to the Sunday Story from the Up First podcast on the NPR app. This is Planet Money from NPR.
Emma Peaslee· Host0:22
There's this player in the WNBA, her name is Alysha Clark, who has kind of a reputation.
Alysha Clark· Guest0:30
I think my teammates would describe me as a tough, gritty, winning... Like, a winner.
Emma Peaslee· Host0:38
Can you go into winner a little bit? Like, what does that mean?
Alysha Clark· Guest0:40
I'm gonna be in the right position at the right time. I'm gonna be prepared. Yeah, I just wanna win at all costs, and whatever that looks like, whatever I need to do is what I'll do, so... And I have a track record of winning.
Erika Beras· Host0:53
Yeah, she's understating it a little bit. Actually, when we were talking to her, the only time she seemed kinda bored was when she was listing her accomplishments.
Alysha Clark· Guest1:02
Going back to high school, like, I won a state championship.
Emma Peaslee· Host1:05
She went on to win championships in college and in overseas leagues.
Alysha Clark· Guest1:09
Then in the WNBA, winning three championships with three of the... How many teams have I played for?
Emma Peaslee· Host1:15
So just to be clear, we're talking to a three-time WNBA champion.
Alysha Clark· Guest1:19
Yes.
Emma Peaslee· Host1:20
[laughs] [laughs] Awesome. But recently, she took part in a competition that had higher stakes than any game she's ever played.
Erika Beras· Host1:29
Alysha