DURHAM, N.C. -- Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said Friday that while the WNBA players will "fight for everything we deserve" during their current round of collective bargaining agreement negotiations, they at the same time must seek "compromise on both ends" and "need to play basketball" next season.
"That's what our fans crave -- the product on the floor," Clark said after the first day of USA Basketball training camp at Duke University. "That's what the fans want to show up for. So, it's business, and it's a negotiation, and there has to be compromise on both sides. And we're starting to get down to the wire of it."
The WNBPA and WNBA agreed to a second extension of the current CBA through Jan. 9, 2026, as both sides continue to work toward a new deal.
But questions persist on whether both sides will be able to come to an agreement by then -- or even whether a work stoppage could be on the horizon.
Kelsey Plum, first vice president of the WNBPA, said at camp on Friday that talks have been "a little bit disheartening, just the frustration in the negotiation and how far away we are."
Among the players' priorities are transforming the league's salary structure and revenue sharing system, introducing standards for team facilities and staffing and garnering more robust benefits.
The league has said it wants to substantially increase player salaries and other cost commitments, while also incentivizing owners to continue to invest in operating the business and building sustained profitability.
The most recently reported league proposal included a maximum salary for 2026 with a guaranteed $1 million base, and projected revenue sharing pushing total earnings for those players to more than $1.2 million. The salary cap would increase to $5 million in 2026 and would be set in each subsequent year based on revenue growth.
Both sides have long said they believe coming to a transformative deal is possible as the league and players look to capitalize off the WNBA's past few years of tremendous growth.
"What I'm proud of is that we play with a group of women and that are united, and we're standing on something," Plum said.
Clark said she leans on teammates Lexie Hull and Aliyah Boston, the Fever's union player reps, as well as Brianna Turner, the union treasurer, to learn more on the negotiations.
The 2024 No. 1 pick and women's basketball sensation has called this the "biggest moment" the WNBA has seen, making it all the more "important that we find a way to play this next season." A work stoppage could emerge if the owners opt to lock out the players or the players opt to strike.
"I think there are different things that we can find ways to say 'No, we certainly deserve that, and we're not going to compromise on that,' and then other things that we can probably compromise on," Clark said. "You want to understand both sides and be respectful of both sides, but at the end of the day, come to a compromise."
Clark is one of 17 participants in this weekend's training camp, including one of 11 age 25 or younger. All eyes were on her as she participated in her first organized basketball event since missing all but 13 games of the 2025 season because of an array of soft tissue injuries, including last appearing for the Fever in July before the All-Star break.
Clark said she's at 100 percent and is just working to get her lungs back and knock the rust off -- her main goal heading into Friday was to "just smile and have fun."
"Honestly, I was a little nervous, just because I haven't been out here in a while," Clark said. "So certainly fun to lace them up and be in a competitive practice."
This weekend's training camp is the first opportunity for new coach Kara Lawson and managing director Sue Bird to start to evaluate players ahead of the 2026 Women's World Cup this upcoming September, where the program will seek its fifth straight World Cup gold medal.
Clark was one of 10 players, also including fellow young stars Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, to make their senior national team camp debuts this weekend.
"She's a terrific player, really locked in and focused," Lawson said of Clark. "I thought she looked good on both ends. And I thought that she hadn't missed the beat."
Bird added to ESPN: "I thought she looked great... The things that are going to be hard is always the conditioning part... I'm sure that's going to come as the camp comes. But she looks great regardless outside of that. And the other thing is rhythm. I'm sure everybody saw that one step-back in transition she had, so the rhythm looks great. But more than anything, you want her, you want all these players, to just be around each other, off the court, on the court."