WNBA Teams Desperate to Expand Rosters Amid ‘Extreme Hardship’ 

August 29, 2025

Friday’s unusual announcement from the Dallas Wings highlights the stress on teams this time of year.

Days before last month’s WNBA All-Star Game, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White sat in the depths of Barclays Center after her team’s 21-point loss to the Liberty and fielded questions alongside guards Sophie Cunningham and Aari McDonald.

The Fever were depleted on the second night of a back-to-back, missing Caitlin Clark due to a groin injury.

The Fever have had 17 players under contract at various points in the season, but White’s team is far from the only one plagued by the issue. On Friday, the Dallas Wings signed Christyn Williams to what they called an “extreme hardship” contract.

The term extreme hardship does not appear in the league’s collective bargaining agreement, but there is a league-wide understanding this special provision can be used when teams drop below eight available players. The Wings had seven players listed as out on their status report ahead of Friday’s game against the Atlanta Dream leaving them with just seven available players before signing Williams. Three of their available players—Amy Okonkwo, Serena Sundell, and Williams—are hardships with a combined four games experience. FOS