While the Aces vs. Mercury and A\u2019ja vs. Alyssa should be the biggest story in all of women\u2019s sports, it\u2019s not. Instead, the most talked about moment and one that will certainly cast a pall over this year\u2019s WNBA Finals is the exit interview of Minnesota Lynx star, Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Fresh off a semifinals run that ended with her tearing three ligaments in her ankle and a muscle in her shin<\/a>, Collier took aim at the poor officiating and the person whom she holds accountable for not addressing the issue: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Collier did not hold back, saying, \u201cWe have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cWe go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn\u2019t value us. The league believes it succeeds despite its players, not because of them.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a stunning rebuke by a player not typically known for making them. If it\u2019s Satou Sabally<\/a> or Seattle Storm\u2019s Gabby Williams<\/a> \u2014 two of Engelbert\u2019s most vocal critics \u2014 levying this critique, I don\u2019t think it gains as much traction. But this was Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n Perennial MVP candidate, Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n Five time All-Star, Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n Two time Olympic gold medalist, Napheesa Collier. Vice President of the WNBPA<\/a>, Napheesa Collier. Unrivaled co-founder, Napheesa Collier. Mila\u2019s mama. Bud to our favorite WNBA studs.<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s Phee!<\/p>\n When Napheesa Collier comes for you, with receipts, the world listens.<\/p>\n I want to pause here and note one thing: it shouldn\u2019t have to come to this. Everyone\u2019s wearing those shirts that say \u201ceveryone watches women\u2019s sports,\u201d but is anyone listening to the women that play them? According to reporting, Collier\u2019s had multiple conversations with league leaders about the same issues that she pointed to earlier this week but all she\u2019d been given in return is lip service. Back during WNBA All-Star when league officials met with an unprecedented number of players to discuss the collective bargaining agreement and they were dismissive about the players and what they understood about league operations. This isn\u2019t an issue limited to the WNBA either: the US Women\u2019s National Team had to sue US Soccer to get the equal pay to which they were entitled. Women shouldn\u2019t have to make their cases public to be taken seriously at the bargaining table\u2026and that Collier and the players in the WNBA feel they still have to, even when other women are sitting across the table, says a lot about how we value female athletes in this country.<\/p>\n The Context Of Napheesa Collier\u2019s Comments About Cathy Engelbert<\/p>\n Late in Game 3 of their semifinal series, Minnesota is down four to the Mercury when Collier inbounds the ball. She shoots a pass to Natisha Hiedeman, immediately gets it back, and then starts her drive toward the basket. Alyssa Thomas knocks the ball out of Collier\u2019s hands, running over Minnesota forward\u2019s legs in the process. No foul was called and as Collier writhed in pain on the court, Thomas cemented Phoenix\u2019s victory with a layup. Collier\u2019s coach, Cheryl Reeve, is incensed. WNBA fans have see Reeve mad before \u2014 she famously threw her blazer onto the court in Game 2 of the 2012 WNBA Finals<\/a> \u2014 but never like this. It wasn\u2019t just that encounter between Thomas and Collier or even just Game 3, though Reeve was clearly frustrated about that; instead, Reeve\u2019s outburst felt like the inevitable collusion to months and months of mounting tension between the league\u2019s officiating and WNBA players and coaches.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI want to call for a change in leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,\u201d Reeve stated during her post-game media availability. \u201cIt\u2019s bad for the game. The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy, is fucking malpractice.\u201d<\/p>\n Reeve\u2019s words and actions, during and after Game 3, earned her a swift rebuke from the league: an unprecedented $15,000 fine. For the sin of agreeing with Reeve, Aces Head Coach Becky Hammon and Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White were both fined $1,000. It\u2019s hard to know, for certain, what the final straw was for Collier \u2014 if it was the injury, Reeve\u2019s unprecedented fine, or the culmination of it all \u2014 but here\u2019s what stood out to me: after a call from three of the league\u2019s top coaches for a change in leadership, the league said virtually nothing. MNBA officials delivered a rare defense<\/a> of their colleagues, ignoring the bulk of what Reeve said and insisting what happened between Thomas and Collier wasn\u2019t a foul. Then, after a performance that a Hall of Fame coach had called \u201cfucking malpractice,\u201d the league sent that same officiating crew to Las Vegas to call a decisive Game 5 of the Aces\/Fever series. It was a textbook example of the kind of defensiveness, lack of transparency, and lack of accountability that Collier would call out in her exit interview.<\/p>\n \u201cFans see it every night. Coaches, both winning and losing, point it out every night in pregame and postgame media, yet leadership just issues fines and looks the other way,\u201d Collier noted. \u201cThey ignore the issues that everyone inside the game is begging to be fixed. That is negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n No one wants a lockout. Everyone wants the league to exist and continue thriving for years to come but not at the continued expense of the players.<\/p>\n Some have responded to Collier\u2019s statement by criticizing its timing. Yes, Collier\u2019s comments threaten to eclipse the basketball that\u2019s yet to be played, but two things are worth noting. First, traditionally, ahead of the WNBA Finals, the league\u2019s leader typically hosts a media availability. Last year, Engelbert used that stage to announce the changes in the playoff format.<\/a> If Collier wanted to push Engelbert to address these issues publicly, this was the optimal moment. Second, the league is on the clock: the WNBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement expires on Halloween and, based on what we know of the negotiations, talks have largely stalled.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not where we should be or we thought we would be when we decided to opt out,\u201d Aces guard Chelsea Gray acknowledged to The Athletic.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s not anywhere where we thought it would be. It\u2019s market share, it\u2019s salaries, it\u2019s player safety, it\u2019s everything. I wouldn\u2019t say that we\u2019re where we want to be for maybe one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n If there is any hope of avoiding a lockout, something had to happen to jumpstart those conversations and it\u2019s my hope that Collier\u2019s comments will do that. No one wants a lockout. Everyone wants the league to exist and continue thriving for years to come but not at the continued expense of the players. Hopefully, Collier\u2019s words are a clarion call for all parties to return to the bargaining table.<\/p>\n Why Does Everyone Hate Cathy Englebert?<\/p>\n Admittedly, when Collier said that the WNBA has the \u201cworst leadership in the world,\u201d my immediate thought was, \u201cgirl, have you seen the president,\u201d but I can see through the hyperbole to understand Collier\u2019s broader point. In a lot of ways, Engelbert has been exactly the WNBA leader that MNBA \u2014 who is largely responsible for her hire \u2014 wanted her to be. The MNBA wanted a good business partner and they found it in Engelbert, who before arriving in the W, spent 33 years in the private sector at Deloitte, including four years as the company\u2019s CEO. She came out of the gate strong: creating a player marketing agreement, negotiating the 2020 collective bargaining agreement, organizing the Wubble season, and securing a $75M capital raise<\/a>.<\/p>\n She\u2019s overseen the WNBA\u2019s methodical expansion \u2014 from 12 teams when she started in 2019 to 18 teams by 2030 \u2014 in a way that ensures long-term stability for those franchises and the league. She\u2019s secured partnerships and drastically improved the WNBA\u2019s marketing strategy. She negotiated an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal<\/a> and, in the hours before Collier delivered her blistering critique, announced another media rights deal with Versant\/USA Network.<\/a> She was hired to turn the WNBA into a \u201cthriving business\u201d and by most metrics has succeeded. Engelbert has been a stellar partner for her bosses \u2014 Adam Silver and the MNBA \u2014 but for the WNBA and its players? The track record isn\u2019t as pristine.<\/p>\n \u201cI also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin [Clark], Angel [Reese] and Paige [Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years. Her response was, \u2018Caitlin should be grateful. She makes 16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn\u2019t make anything,’\u201d Collier recounted. \u201cIn that same conversation, she told me, \u2018Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.\u2019 That\u2019s the mentality driving our league from the top.\u201d<\/p>\n It seems inevitable that any WNBA commissioner would be forced to choose a side when those groups end up in conflict with each other, and conflicts will inevitably arise.<\/p>\n Collier\u2019s critique of Engelbert isn\u2019t about the business side of the WNBA \u2014 though I share the concerns about that undervalued media deal<\/a> and wish we talked about that more \u2014 it\u2019s a values argument about accountability and transparency. It\u2019s less about what kind of businesswoman she is and more about what kind of leader she is. In her response to Collier\u2019s statement, Engelbert said she was \u201cdisheartened by the characterization,\u201d<\/a> did not deny any of the quotes that were attributed to her. It\u2019s not clear that Engelbert has done the work to build genuine relationships with the players or head coaches. Napheesa Collier is a franchise player, Elena Delle Donne is a WNBA champion and multi-time MVP<\/a>; if outreach from the highest levels isn\u2019t happening with them, it\u2019s impossible to imagine it happening with anyone. That\u2019s a huge problem and one night of dancing to \u201cKnuck if You Buck\u201d with the Studbudz in Indianapolis isn\u2019t going to solve it.<\/p>\n In fairness to Engelbert, though, I don\u2019t know if the role of WNBA commissioner is one that anyone could really thrive in. The nature of the job requires addressing the needs of so many disparate groups \u2014 from Adam Silver and the MNBA to the WNBA\u2019s team owners to the WNBA players and coaches \u2014 that it\u2019s hard to imagine anyone being able to effectively serve that many masters. It seems inevitable that any WNBA commissioner would be forced to choose a side when those groups end up in conflict with each other, and conflicts will inevitably arise. Engelbert has consistently chosen to align with Adam Silver and the MNBA, at the expense of non-MNBA affiliated owners (see: the Mohegan Tribe) and the players of the WNBA. Could Engelbert even change officiating, unilaterally, even if she wanted to? Even with the increased power given to Engelbert as commissioner \u2014 previous leaders of the WNBA have been league presidents \u2014 it\u2019s not clear that she could. Frankly, it\u2019s kind of a miracle that Engelbert has lasted this long.<\/p>\n The WNBA Finals kick off tonight from Las Vegas and while all eyes should be on the court, we\u2019ll all be waiting, with bated breath, to hear what Cathy Engelbert has to say. If there\u2019s any hope that Engelbert can survive as commissioner until after the collective bargaining agreement has been finalized, as has been reported,<\/a> the mending of fences has to start tonight. For the long-term viability and success of this league, it might be a more important event than whoever wins Game One.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t\tBefore you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today \u2014 if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF<\/a> and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/upsell-image.png\"\/)
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