This week\u2019s concerns started with officiating. Three out of 13 total head coaches were suspended or fined by the league for complaining about refs in the playoffs. Now, thanks to Phee, it\u2019s boiled over into a bigger discussion about the state of the league. Other players, from Angel Reese to the Indiana Fever\u2019s Lexie Hull, have voiced support for Collier and co-signed everything she said. Even Mark Cuban has weighed in<\/a>, calling officiating issues in both the NBA and WNBA \u201cpurely a management issue.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that the league and its players are in the midst of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. It\u2019s been a rocky season\u2014after a surge of attention during her rookie year, Caitlin Clark was injured. Angel Reese was recently suspended and was suspected to be interested in a trade. Players have been told more money is coming after media deals were signed (without taking effect yet), but it\u2019s been a long two seasons waiting for it. Despite (or because of) all the successes and excitement in women\u2019s sports over the past few years, tensions are running high. Players are ready to work together to earn their share of the sport\u2019s profits; they\u2019ve worn \u201cPay Us What You Owe Us\u201d shirts on the court. A lockout is on the table if they don\u2019t secure a contract. Engelbert has also said she\u2019s aiming for a \u201ctransformational\u201d CBA; the first one under her tenure in 2020 increased player salaries and added maternity benefits, but there\u2019s a long way to go. <\/p>\n This got more personal, though, than basic labor negotiations. Collier specifically described conversations she said she had with Engelbert about player compensation. Collier said that Engelbert said that Caitlin Clark \u201cshould be grateful\u201d to the league, because she wouldn\u2019t be able to earn millions off the court without it. She said that the commissioner said that players should be \u201con their knees thanking their lucky stars\u201d for the media deal she got them. A\u2019ja Wilson, four-time MVP with a major Nike<\/a> deal, said she was \u201cdisgusted\u201d by those comments. Engelbert said in a statement that she was \u201cdisheartened\u201d by how Collier characterized their conversations and that she remains focused on ensuring a bright future for the league.<\/p>\n I wrote about<\/a> the state of the league a year ago, spending time with Engelbert at 2024\u2019s All-Star Weekend and speaking with players, agents, advertisers, owners, media execs, and other stakeholders throughout the sport. I can confirm\u2014Engelbert is prone to candid, off-the-cuff remarks (you can read some of them in that 2024 story<\/a>). <\/p>\n My takeaway: Being the commissioner of the WNBA is a very hard job. Being the commissioner of any league is a hard job, but with WNBA job comes with extra challenges\u2014including bosses at the NBA and a divide among ownership between those with billions who want to step on the gas and those who have been there for years, but don\u2019t have endlessly deep pockets. It\u2019s more complicated than running a startup league like Unrivaled. The leader of the league must have fluency in business and sports, yes, but also in race, culture, social justice, and more. When the NBA hired Engelbert six years ago, it sought a \u201cproven executive,\u201d Adam Silver told me, to tackle some of the fundamentals the WNBA was missing. Players, though, want more than the fundamentals.<\/p>\n And women\u2019s basketball\u2019s most important stakeholder will always be its players. Without them, there is no sport. Fans have allegiance to those players\u2014more than to teams, more than to the league. And the media dollars and sponsorship money that power the growth of the sport depends on those fans. The best owners in the league know that, too. To secure the league\u2019s \u201cbright future,\u201d its commissioner needs to earn those players\u2019 respect.<\/p>\n Emma Hinchliffe The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune\u2019s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n ALSO IN THE HEADLINES<\/p>\n Qantas tries a CEO pay metric. Vanessa Hudson’s total compensation will still depend on whether she can improve the reputation of the beleaguered Australian airline. Australian Financial Review<\/a><\/p>\n Robbie Kaplan is representing shareholders with questions for Disney.\u00a0The attorney who argued gay marriage before the Supreme Court and represented E. Jean Carroll as she went up against Trump is now asking Disney, on behalf of theAmerican Federation of Teachers, the AFL-CIO, and Reporters Without Borders, whether the company breached fiduciary duty by putting improper political pressure above the concerns of shareholders when it pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air.\u00a0Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n What is the New York Times?\u00a0CEO Meredith Kopit Levien answers that question here. It’s “the preeminent institution of high-quality independent journalism.” And with its cooking, gaming, and sports dominance, it’s “a set of market-leading lifestyle products that help people make the most of their lives and passions.”\u00a0Puck<\/a><\/p>\n ON MY RADAR<\/p>\n Can feathers ever be ethical? Stella McCartney is betting on it\u00a0Vogue Business<\/a><\/p>\n Sarah Paulson lives for the drama\u00a0The Cut<\/a><\/p>\n Why Japan is getting its second prime minister in just a year\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a><\/p>\n PARTING WORDS<\/p>\n “I feel like I\u2019m finally getting to the place where I don\u2019t really care what people think. She influenced me.”<\/p>\n \u2014 Apple Martin on what she’s learned from her mom, Gwyneth Paltrow. The duo star in a new Gap campaign together<\/a>.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2234229773_690437.jpg\"\/)
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emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com<\/a><\/p>\n