Season reimbursement, WNBA has new trends, Li Yueru encounters difficulties, returning to Dallas may become a luxury

WNBA League is in full swing. In the game against the Los Angeles Sparks, Chinese young player Li Yueru unfortunately suffered a knee injury and was forced to withdraw from the field. You know, she had experienced such a serious injury as a cruciate ligament tear before, so the Flying Wing Team's doctor dared not slacken at all. After careful examination, it was finally confirmed that he was a sprained knee. Although it was not serious, she needed to recuperate for up to 6 months to avoid the recurrence of her old disease. This bad news is undoubtedly a huge loss for Li Yueru. Before being injured, she finally got back to form and ended her embarrassing record of not scoring double-digit points in nine consecutive games with a wonderful performance of 20 points.

I originally thought that she could gradually gain a foothold in the team and win the appreciation of the coaching staff, but a sudden disaster was everywhere. However, misfortunes never come alone, and the bad situation is far from here. According to the schedule, the finale of the WNBA regular season is scheduled to be on September 12. But judging from the current record of the Dallas Flying Wings, it is utterly a dream to enter the playoffs. Such a situation means that Li Yueru has actually announced his reimbursement this season. Up to now, she still carried out subsequent rehabilitation training with the home team, and accumulated strength for joining the Mersin Women's Basketball Team and moving to the Turkish Super League.

The invitation from Mersing was really surprising. Although Li Yueru has played in the Turkish Premier League many times, she has never played for such a strong team. This move indirectly demonstrates the outstanding performance of this young Chinese player on the court, and also reflects the exposure and attention that the WNBA has in overseas leagues. The women's basketball league can have such a broad market, which is inseparable from the strong promotion of capital. Since Xiao Hua became the president of the NBA, the salary level of players has increased significantly. This favorable measure has also been learned from the WNBA and its rise cannot be underestimated. At the same time, the league office will do its best to enhance its influence and strive to expand the number of teams to 18 by 2030.

In the current league, there are 15 teams. For the three teams that will be joined in the future, the capital behind them can be said to be spared no expense. In order to be able to integrate into the WNBA family, they will pay up to US$250 million in franchise fees to the league. This move will change the survival mode of female basketball players. With the growing income, existing labor-management agreements are no longer applicable. You should know that as the No. 1 pick, Clark and Page, their current salary level is only a fraction of the salary of NBA basic players. Such a huge gap has aroused strong dissatisfaction among players and the union, and this dissatisfaction has also been transformed into practical actions.

As early as the WNBA All-Star Game on July 20, many star players selected for the main competition appeared in T-shirts calling for a salary increase. Such a blatant move instantly touched the "bottom line" of the team bosses. However, the bosses did not respond immediately, but secretly planned subsequent responses. As opposing sides, the real outbreak of the conflict is most likely to occur on October 30. Because on that day, the WNBA and the Players' Union will negotiate on salary levels. If both sides ultimately refuse to make concessions, the alliance is very likely to encounter a shutdown crisis. At that time, if Li Yueru wants to return to the WNBA and return to the Dallas Wings, it may become an out of reach luxury.