Erica Barris

This is Planet Money from NPR.

Yeah, she's understating it a little bit.

Actually, when we were talking to her, the only time she seemed kind of bored was when she was listing her accomplishments.

Alicia knows long, grueling workouts.

She's learned dozens of defensive schemes and offensive plays.

She's used to practicing, preparing, strategizing.

But this was a totally different kind of endurance challenge.

And...

Look, it's normal for players to be involved in collective bargaining.

When union workers sign a new contract with their employers, some of the actual workers have to be part of the negotiations.

So Alicia was going to be one of the players negotiating over things like parental leave, 401k matching, housing stipends, and most importantly, paychecks.

All Alicia and the other negotiators had to do was get the league to agree.

Hello and welcome to Planet Money.

I'm Erica Barris.

And it came right down to the buzzer.

Today on the show, we go courtside to one of the most important union negotiations in professional sports history and learn what it's like to be a rookie doing high stakes bargaining.

From bluffs and puffs to strategic silence and something called BATNA.

And the ringer?

Economics.

Swish!