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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert responds to Napheesa Collier<\/p>\n
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert responds to Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier\u2019s criticism of league leadership, addressing player concerns.<\/p>\n
Sports Pulse<\/p>\n
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is facing criticism over comments she allegedly made to player Napheesa Collier during contract negotiations.Engelbert denied telling Collier that Caitlin Clark should be grateful for the WNBA platform but did not clarify other reported remarks.Tensions are high as the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire, raising concerns about a potential labor stoppage.<\/p>\n
Cathy Engelbert can tap dance until the WNBA Finals are over. The damage is irreparable.<\/p>\n
The WNBA commissioner\u2019s non-denial denials and plea for sympathy were not the assurance the players needed that Engelbert can be an honest broker in these tense contract negotiations. What little trust the players still had after that fruitless bargaining session at the All-Star Game was ethered earlier this week when Napheesa Collier shared how little Engelbert really thinks of them<\/a>, and Engelbert would not \u2014 could not \u2014 counter that in her news conference<\/a> ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals<\/a> on Friday night.<\/p>\n It was telling that Engelbert\u2019s best defense when asked whether she\u2019d said the players should be, \u201con their knees, thanking their lucky stars\u201d for a new, $2 billion media rights deal was to claim \u201cinaccuracy\u201d about what she\u2019d said. Yet Engelbert wouldn\u2019t say what those inaccuracies were or where they occurred, instead deflecting to how tough the criticism has been on her and her family.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m a human, too,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cI have a family. I have two kids who are devastated by these comments.\u201d<\/p>\n You know what\u2019s really devastating? Knowing the commissioner who is supposed to be championing the league and its players doesn\u2019t respect them and thinks they should take less than they deserve.<\/p>\n Engelbert did deny \u2014 strongly \u2014 telling Collier<\/a> that Caitlin Clark should be grateful for the platform the WNBA gives her because it\u2019s the reason she has her long, lucrative list of endorsements.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously,\u201d Engelbert said, \u201cI did not make those comments.\u201d<\/p>\n And if Collier has a recording of their conversation? Or someone to corroborate what Collier said Engelbert told her? Those reports about Engelbert stepping down after the CBA is done actually will be inaccurate because she won\u2019t last the day.<\/p>\n Napheesa Collier knew what she was doing when she blasted WNBA leadership<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth remembering, by the way, that Collier\u2019s grandfather helped win independence for Sierra Leone and then served as its first representative to the United Nations<\/a>. Playing chess when everyone else thinks they\u2019re playing checkers is in Collier\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n \u201cThese women are smart. They’ve done the numbers, they’ve run the numbers \u2014 I know this because I was previously on the executive committee \u2014 and everyone is playing their role to get to a point where they avoid a lockout, they keep this product on the floor,\u201d ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike said after Engelbert\u2019s news conference.<\/p>\n \u201cBut in order to do that, you have to have conversations and it now feels like it’s been wasted time. And that’s on Cathy, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n The negotiations over this next collective bargaining agreement were always going to be tense. Interest in women\u2019s sports, the WNBA in particular, has exploded over the last five years, and money is pouring into the league.<\/p>\n That new media rights deal<\/a> that begins next season will pump $200 million a year into the WNBA. Sponsors are clamoring for a piece of the league, and owners in Detroit, Philadelphia and Cleveland just shelled out $250 million each for expansion franchises<\/a>.<\/p>\n Players want a significant bump in both their salaries and revenue sharing. Salaries currently top out at $250,000 while revenue sharing is around 10%, a pittance compared with the roughly 50% that\u2019s typical of major men\u2019s leagues.<\/p>\n Engelbert claims she\u2019s heard the players and says she, too, wants them to get a much bigger piece of the pie. But her actions, and her words, say differently.<\/p>\n The 40 players who showed up for the bargaining session at the All-Star Game was a show of their commitment, yet players left the meeting frustrated<\/a>. Engelbert and the rest of the league\u2019s negotiating team offered little new and showed little interest in trying to bridge the gap with the players.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty shocking to see,\u201d New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, who like Collier is a union vice president, said then. \u201cNot many things did we both agree on. I think there were two bullet points where we were like, `OK, we can move forward with this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n