Napheesa Collier came prepared for her exit interview on Tuesday, delivering a blistering statement on her thoughts on the current state of the WNBA.
Collier, a senior member of the WNBA Players Association executive council, started her press conference calling out the WNBA and the league’s commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, for a lack of accountability.
The Minnesota Lynx star spoke for more than four minutes about topics including inconsistent officiating, which she feels the commissioner and the rest of the league’s leadership aren’t addressing. The Lynx were eliminated from the postseason despite their No 1 seeding, and Minnesota’s coach, Cheryl Reeve, was suspended for remarks she made about the standard of refereeing in the league afterward.
“We have the best league in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But we have the worst leadership in the world,” the runner-up for MVP said. “Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders. If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way.
“But unfortunately for them, I do believe we serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensable, and that’s fine. It’s professional sports, but I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level.”
Collier, in her role with the WNBA union, is also involved in negotiations with the league over a new collective bargaining agreement. She claimed on Tuesday that Engelbert had made remarks about the league’s young stars during preliminary CBA talks earlier this year.
“This past February, I sat across from [Engelbert] and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,” Collier said. “Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like [Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years.
“Her response was, ‘[Clark] should be grateful. She makes $16m off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’ And in that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’”
Collier said she was also annoyed she hadn’t heard from Engelbert after her injury in Game 3 of the WNBA semi-finals.
“Not one call, not one text. Instead, the only outreach has come from her number two telling my agent that she doesn’t believe physical play contributed to injuries. That is infuriating,” Collier said. “It’s the perfect example of the tone deaf, dismissive approach that our leaders always seem to take.”
Collier wants the league to do a better job protecting its players in the long term.
“The league talks about sustainability. This is about sustainability. How are you going to protect your players? How are you going to make sure that we have the best products on the floor night after night, when it’s so inconsistent and people are getting hurt left and right?”
Collier also said she was comfortable with the risk of being fined for her comments. “I’m sure they’ll fine me,” she said. “I mean, it seems like anything with free speech is fined now.”
