Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier slammed WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert Tuesday afternoon, accusing the league’s top executive of “negligence” and failing to address issues related to officiating, compensation and the overall state of the league.
Collier’s comments come amid collective bargaining negotiations between the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and the league. Collier’s roles as a WNBPA vice president and co-founder of the 3-on-3 pro women’s basketball league Unrivaled put her in a unique position, as both a union negotiator and potential challenger to the W.
The alternative winter league has a complex relationship with the WNBA and was recently valued at $340 million following an investment from private equity firm Bessemer Venture Partners. The Miami-based league recently added two teams, bringing the total to eight, offering more slots to W players who may spend the offseason in the midst of a WNBA lockout.
“We have the best players in the world,” Collier told reporters in a prepared statement after her top-seeded team was eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the semifinal series on Sunday night. “We have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world.”
Collier, who came in second behind Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson in Most Valuable Player voting this season, said Engelbert told her in a private conversation that Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and other young standouts “should be on their knees” in gratitude for the platform the league has given them, citing new media deals. Collier also said Engelbert told her that the league is the reason for Clark earning “$16 million” off the court, with an array of sponsorship deals that have made her one of the league’s highest-paid players.
Engelbert responded by saying that she has the “utmost respect” for Collier, a five-time All Star.
“Together we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league,” Engelbert said in a statement. “My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game. I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.”
Collier’s comments don’t bode well for a new accord before the Oct. 31 expiration of the current CBA, a deadline players have expected to miss for weeks now. While both sides continue to meet, it’s widely thought that the parties will agree to an extension and continue negotiations into the offseason.
“Not great, not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time,” Aces star and WNBPA team rep Chelsea Gray told ESPN on Tuesday. “We have a lot of work to do, more so on the [WNBA] side and with Cathy, and understanding our value as a league, as players, and there’s no league without the players.”
Engelbert first mentioned the extension option during July’s All-Star Break in Indianapolis, where she presented the ASG MVP trophy to Collier in a postgame ceremony, during which remaining fans in the arena chanted “Pay them.”
Such an extension, which would need to be agreed upon before Nov. 1, isn’t uncommon. The league and union extended the last CBA deadline and didn’t come into an agreement until January 2020, just ahead of the free-agent signing period.