The WNBA’s best players made a powerful statement before Saturday night’s All-Star game when they put together a show of solidarity by wearing pregame warm-up shirts with one simple demand to the league: “Pay us what you owe us.”

The message comes amid the players’ union’s ongoing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations with the WNBA, with their current CBA set to expire at the end of the season. Many on social media have shared mixed reactions to the blunt message, as some seem confused as to how the players could be demanding more money when the WNBA is still unprofitable in 2025.

Let’s clear up one thing to start: the WNBA players are not lobbying for the same salaries as their NBA counterparts.

Instead, they are lobbying for a fairer percentage of the league’s shared revenue. WNBA vet and Los Angeles Sparks star Kelsey Plum said it best back in 2022: “We’re not asking to get paid what the men get paid,” she said. “We’re asking to get paid the same percentage of revenue shared.”

Over in the NBA, revenue (TV deals, ticket and merchandise sales, etc.) is split evenly between players and owners—players receive between 49% and 51% of basketball-related income.

In the WNBA, players reportedly only receive 9.3% of league revenue, per Market Watch. That single-digit percentage is much lower than what other athletes in professional sports leagues earn (NFL and NHL players also get roughly half of all revenue).

Timberwolves and Lynx beat reporter Andrew Dukowitz broke down the numbers to more precisely explain WNBA players’ gripes toward the league. Here’s the gist of Dukowitz’s post on X (formerly known as Twitter):

“Now yes, the WNBA did lose 40 million dollars in 2024, but this is in large part due to the TV deal they are currently signed to, which in 2026 goes from roughly 45 Million annually to 200 Million annually.

This will result in essence result in the league making money over night from losing 40 to a net gain of 115M just on the TV deal alone. Even if the game and tickets sales were to stop growing, and merch stopped selling, it would still be in the green.

The current CBA would amount to players going from 1.507M in salary cap to just 4.0 M… a substantial raise however it would cost the league just 2.5 M out of that 115M TV deal profits.

If the players got 40%, that’s just 17.204M as a salary cap… a 11x raise over their current salaries, and still in the grand scheme of things less than 1 Jaden McDaniels(24.393M)”

Hope this helps!

More WNBA on Sports Illustrated

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) – Kids in Marquette raised money for student-athletes on Wednesday.

The Marquette Kids Club set up a lemonade stand on the corner of Front St. and Ridge St. in Marquette. The club is donating the money it makes to Ainsley’s HALO, a nonprofit that supports Marquette-area student-athletes and hospitals that fight against childhood cancer in honor of Ainsley Kargela.

Volunteers say the Marquette community is very generous.

“I think it says a lot about the people of Marquette,” said Kids Club School Age Program Lead Teacher Sam Cosio. “They’re willing to stop their cars and run across the busy road to help this great cause and talk to these kids and see what it’s all about.”

The Kids Club also said running the stand gave the kids an opportunity to learn about the service industry.

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In the world that we live in today, there’s no escaping the prying eyes of the digital universe.

Over the past seven days, several incidents have gone viral across the digital landscape. But without a shadow of a doubt, it was British band Coldplay’s concert in the United States that truly broke the internet — and not for their music.

As always, Chris Martin and company rocked the crowd in Boston, Massachusetts. But this time, it was a software company CEO who found himself in the spotlight — quite literally.

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Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was caught on the Jumbotron camera at the Gillette Stadium with his arms around Kristin Cabot, the company’s HR head.

The incident is still racking up millions and millions of views on the internet but there were other incidents too that stole the world wide web.

Here, we bring you a round-up of the stories that went viral over the course of the week.

ColdplayGate

As the Jumbotron camera panned towards a happy and smiling couple, the pair immediately moved away and tried to hide their faces as they appeared on the big screen.

Amused by their reaction, the band’s frontman Martin quipped, “Oh look at these two… either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”

Soon enough, the couple were identified as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR Chief Kristin Cabot. Byron is reportedly married to Megan Kerrigan Byron. The incident is now being dubbed ColdplayGate.

Influencer Mia Zelu goes viral at Wimbledon

A stunning blonde, with blue eyes, stole the limelight during one of the most-watched tennis Grand Slam of the year — Wimbledon.

The lady, who goes by the name Mia Zelu, is an influencer and has a 165,000-strong following. And Mia went viral after posting plenty of photos of herself at The Championships. Except that she isn’t real. Yes, you read it right. Mia is an AI influencer and is a product of an algorithm, with carefully curated Instagram posts involving AI-generated visuals that appear startlingly human, and cleverly crafted captions.

Mia shared photos of her Wimbledon outing, with an inspirational message: “Your time will come. Keep showing up”. Commenters agreed with her caption and engaged with her post.

Apparently, Mia even has a “sister” — Ana Zelu, who boasts 266,000 followers.

‘Aura Farming’ boat kid

A 11-year-old Indonesian boy’s boat-top dance has turned into a global trend, capturing the attention of social media and celebrities, including Travis Kelce and Wiz Khalifa.

Rayyan Arkan Dikha has now become the face of a global trend known as ‘Aura Farming.’

The short clip (circulated on social media with a trending audio), which originated from the Pacu Jalur boat racing festival in Riau, Indonesia, shows 11-year-old Rayyan in traditional attire, swaying to the rhythm with simple, composed hand gestures, his gaze steady and expression unreadable.

Aura Farming is a term born from gamer culture, where “farming” means collecting resources. In social media terms, it’s about projecting a vibe so strong, it earns you admiration, likes, reposts, and ‘aura points’.

Two seniors on the Missouri track and field team were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Second Team on Wednesday — Kristi Perez-Snyman and Callan Saldutto. This honor is awarded to student-athletes who excel in both academic and athletic environments.

Saldutto is the third male Tiger to earn this recognition. He is the first to accomplish it since Tyler Dailey in 2007. Perez-Snyman is the 13th woman in program history and the first since Karissa Schweizer in 2018. 

Both Perez-Snyman and Saldutto earned high grade point averages, with Perez-Snyman’s 3.96 and Saldutto’s perfect 4.00. The former achieved a master’s degree in natural resources, while the latter received a master’s in accountancy.

Outside of the classroom, the two impressed in the field. Perez-Snyman competes in the women’s high jump, and she finished the outdoor season in sixth place with a distance of 1.87 meters (6-1.5). Saldutto notched a third-place finish in the men’s javelin after throwing a mark of 76.88 meters (252-3).

SEC News

Greg Sankey Says His Piece In Regards To College Football Playoff Expansion

Did you notice?

Mizzou Quote of the Day

“I think that Coach [Norm] Stewart really turned me from a boy into a man. He helped me to be able to have the self-discipline to be a great basketball player, to be a good student, and also to help me decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life.”John Brown

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/missouri as 2 Mizzou Track and Field Athletes Earn Academic Honors: The Buzz.

Patients, athletes, and colleagues are mourning the loss of Dr Anwar Sadath, a well-known orthopedic surgeon in Dubai, who passed away yesterday, at the age of 49.

Dr Sadath was from Kerala and was known for his gentle nature, ethical practice, and deep care for his patients. He was a specialist at Medcare Orthopaedics and Spine Hospital and had over 18 years of experience in treating sports injuries, fractures, and trauma cases. For the past 14 years, he was a part of the Aster DM Healthcare group.

Among those deeply affected by his passing is Indian international handball player Vipin Kumar, who had been receiving treatment from Dr Sadath for many years. “He was more than just a doctor to me. He focused on healing my injuries naturally, through strengthening exercises and avoiding unnecessary surgeries. Whenever I got hurt, he gave me the confidence to recover and keep going. He always reminded me that we were in this together, it was a team effort,” said Vipin.

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Vipin had recently returned from an international handball tournament in Taipei and had met Dr Sadath just days before his death. “He told me he was going on a vacation soon. He was so happy and proud every time I brought home a medal. I even spoke about him during a recent radio interview, thanking him for the role he played in my success,” he added.

Another patient, speaking to Khaleej Times, said Dr Sadath treated everyone like family. “He wasn’t just a doctor; he was a well-wisher. He cared from the heart. He would never suggest unnecessary procedures, and his first step was always to calm us down and lift our spirits before starting any treatment. That positivity alone was half the cure.”

Known for his humility, Dr Sadath had a strong connection with many athletes in the UAE. His colleagues described him as a man with a pure heart who always put his patients first. “He had a gift for making people feel at ease. You walked into his clinic with pain and walked out with hope,” said a colleague.

Dr Sadath is survived by his three children. His sudden passing has left a void in the medical and sports community.

He is being laid to rest after Asr prayer at Al Qusais Cemetery, with many of his patients and well-wishers attending the funeral.

SM Ayaz Zakir

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SM Ayaz Zakir is a Senior Correspondent with a flair for extraordinary stories. His playground? Every corner of the UAE. He often ventures into remote corners of the country to capture compelling news and human interest stories.