Napheesa Collier delivered a blistering assessment of the WNBA and its commissioner on Tuesday as she sat in front of the media with a prepared statement, disclosing private conversations she said she had with Cathy Engelbert that portrayed her as a leader who lacks accountability.
The Minnesota Lynx star spoke for more than four minutes on topics ranging from Caitlin Clark — and her value to the league — to inconsistent officiating, which she feels Engelbert and the WNBA haven't addressed.
“We have the best league in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But we have the worst leadership in the world,” the runner-up for MVP said. “Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders."
During what typically would be a routine end-of-season media availability, Collier blasted Engelbert as a leader who is insensitive to the current realities of being a WNBA player. Her remarks came as the WNBA players union, for which Collier is a vice president, prepares to engage the league in highly contentious collective bargaining that will set the parameters for a league trying to keep up with its unprecedent growth and global interest.
"If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way," Collier said. "But unfortunately for them, I do believe we serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensable, and that’s fine. It’s professional sports, but I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level.”
Engelbert responded to Collier in a statement not long after the media session, saying she was disheartened by “how Napheesa characterized our conversations,” but was committed to her job and "will not waver.”
“I have the utmost respect for Napheesa Collier and for all the players in the WNBA," Engelbert wrote. “Together we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game.”
Things have been heated in Minnesota as of late. The Lynx were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday in a Game 4 that Collier missed with an ankle injury and her coach, Cheryl Reeve, missed because she was suspended for her behavior toward officials in Game 3.
Reeve also received what was believed to be the heftiest fine for an individual coach or player in league history, according to a person familiar with the penalty who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadn't been made yet.
Collier said she hadn’t heard from Engelbert following her injury, which happened on the play that prompted Reeve to take to the court and scream at officials before her staff and players held her back in an attempt to diffuse the situation.
“Not one call, not one text. Instead, the only outreach has come from her No. 2 telling my agent that she doesn’t believe physical play contributed to injuries. That is infuriating,” Collier said. “It’s the perfect example of the tone deaf, dismissive approach that our leaders always seem to take.”
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Collier said that in a private conversation with Engelbert, the commissioner of seven years told her WNBA star Clark should be grateful to the league for her earnings and endorsement deals, which stemmed from Clark's record-breaking college career that saw her become the most polarizing player in women's basketball history.
“This past February, I sat across from (Engelbert) and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,” Collier said. “Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like (Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers), who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years.
“Her response was, ‘(Clark) should be grateful. She makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’ And in that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’”
Engelbert did not address the specific comments Collier said she made in the private conversation, only saying that “perspectives differ.”
Collier, besides playing in the WNBA, is a co-founder of Unrivaled — a three-on-three women's basketball league that plays in the winter and features WNBA stars. Many of those players seek offseason leagues to play in to supplement their WNBA salaries, which are capped at about $250,000 for a supermax contract. Earnings for top rookies are capped around $78,000.
WNBA players for years relied on going abroad in the offseason to find those leagues, but security and quality-of-life concerns that were brought to light by the imprisonment of Brittney Griner in Russia paved the way for leagues such as Unrivaled to provide a safer alternative.
Collier, in the end, said she just wants the league to do a better job protecting its players.
“The league talks about sustainability. This is about sustainability. How are you going to protect your players? How are you going to make sure that we have the best products on the floor night after night, when it’s so inconsistent and people are getting hurt left and right?"
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