{"id":193232,"date":"2025-09-30T21:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193232\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T21:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T21:57:07","slug":"napheesa-collier-rips-wnba-commish-from-union-unrivaled-perch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/193232\/","title":{"rendered":"Napheesa Collier Rips WNBA Commish From Union, Unrivaled Perch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMinnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier<\/a> slammed WNBA<\/a> commissioner Cathy Engelbert Tuesday afternoon, accusing the league\u2019s top executive of \u201cnegligence\u201d and failing to address issues related to officiating, compensation and the overall state of the league.<\/p>\n

\n\tCollier\u2019s comments come amid collective bargaining negotiations<\/a> between the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association and the league. Collier\u2019s roles as a WNBPA vice president and co-founder of the 3-on-3 pro women\u2019s basketball league Unrivaled<\/a> put her in a unique position, as both a union negotiator and potential challenger to the W.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe alternative winter league has a complex relationship with the WNBA and was recently valued at $340 million<\/a> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have the best players in the world,\u201d 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. \u201cWe have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCollier, who came in second behind Las Vegas Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson in Most Valuable Player voting this season, said Engelbert told her in a private conversation that Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark<\/a> and other young standouts \u201cshould be on their knees\u201d 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 \u201c$16 million\u201d off the court, with an array of sponsorship deals that have made her one of the league\u2019s highest-paid players<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tEngelbert responded by saying that she has the \u201cutmost respect\u201d for Collier, a five-time All Star.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTogether we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league,\u201d Engelbert said in a statement. \u201cMy 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCollier\u2019s comments don\u2019t bode well for a new accord before the Oct. 31 expiration of the current CBA, a deadline players have expected to miss for weeks<\/a> now. While both sides continue to meet, it\u2019s widely thought that the parties will agree to an extension and continue negotiations into the offseason.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNot great, not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time,\u201d Aces star and WNBPA team rep Chelsea Gray told ESPN on Tuesday. \u201cWe 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\u2019s no league without the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEngelbert first mentioned the extension option during July\u2019s 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 \u201cPay them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSuch an extension, which would need to be agreed upon before Nov. 1, isn\u2019t uncommon. The league and union extended the last CBA deadline and didn\u2019t come into an agreement until January 2020, just ahead of the free-agent signing period.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier slammed WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert Tuesday afternoon, accusing the league\u2019s top executive of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193233,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3250,99,18419,434],"class_list":["post-193232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-sports","tag-unrivaled","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193232\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}