The WNBA community has plenty of reasons to celebrate this week.
On Wednesday, the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association finally worked out a new collective bargaining agreement. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, this agreement will increase the salary cap to $7 million for the 2026 season.
Additionally, the average salary in the WNBA will increase to around $600,000. The minimum salary, meanwhile, is set to surpass $300,000.
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In honor of the WNBA's landmark collective bargaining agreement, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit shared a few throwback photos.
Back in 2012, SI Swimsuit had Sue Bird, Te'a Cooper, Nneka Ogwumike, DiDi Richards and Breanna Stewart pose for an epic photo shoot in St. Thomas.
"This is who we are; this is the makeup of our league. We represent a variety of things: of course women, women of color, members of the LGBTQIA2+ community and much more," Bird told SI Swimsuit. "The issue for so many years has been iconic and has represented a lot for women. Now you are seeing an evolution in what that can mean and what that can look like, and I think the WNBA players being a part of that is what makes it special. There is no better group of women to showcase that evolution."
WNBA has a strong connection with SI Swimsuit.
In 2014, WNBA star Skylar Diggins was photographed by the SI Swimsuit team on Guana Island.
If we just go back a year ago, SI Swimsuit welcomed Cameron Brink to the family. The Los Angeles Sparks forward had her rookie shoot in Boca Raton, Florida.
“I think it’s always really hard to be a woman in this world, but especially a female athlete,” Brink told SI Swimsuit. “Am I supposed to look more feminine? Am I supposed to look more athletic? What’s the balance? What do people think? My femininity—I hold that very close to my self-image, so it’s definitely gone back and forth. I think every female athlete’s had a really rough go with body image. But I’m definitely glad I’ve gotten to a really good place, and I’m able to do stuff like this with SI Swimsuit. It’s just very empowering, so I hope everyone can get to a point like this.”
It probably won't be long before another WNBA star poses for SI Swimsuit.
