Napheesa Collier led a movement of WNBA players calling out the league’s leadership, specifically commissioner Cathy Engelbert, last year following the end of the season. The league was heading into collective bargaining agreement negotiations, and the players wanted their concerns and voices heard.
While Collier talked about various controversial topics in her exit interview last September, one quote about the commissioner circulated amongst the WNBA world. Here’s a reminder of what the Lynx star said:
"We 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,” Collier said. “If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way. But unfortunately for them, I do. 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."
A week later, Collier addressed her comments about the league and Engelbert, explaining that she believed it needed to be said in order for the players to earn a fair CBA.
"I think I just got to the point where I was fed up,” Collier said. “... Whether I was going to get annihilated for this or people were gonna support me, I felt like what I was doing was right. I felt like it needed to be said, so no matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done.”
In the end, Collier’s voice helped the league agree on a monumental CBA that provides major pay increases for the players among other perks. Collier specifically became one of the players to sign a supermax contract extension when she agreed on a one-year, $1.4 million contract to return to the Lynx.
Now, nearly two months after the CBA was passed, Collier took time to reflect on her headline-worthy comments made last fall when appearing on NPR’s Morning Edition this week.
“Thinking about the state of the world right now, I think that was a little dramatic,” Collier admitted about calling Engelbert and the W the “worst leadership in the world.” She continued: “It was tense for a while just between the players and the league in general. I think it was something that needed to happen, and it was something that furthered our CBA negotiations. I’m still happy that I did it, and I think it had the intended effect of moving our negotiations along. I think an unintended consequence would be, like, I never want someone’s personal life affected the way that it was for her.”
Collier went on to clarify what she meant by her comments made about Engelbert.
“What I was talking about was professionally, and when you take things personally, that was an unintended consequence for sure.”
Phee on her “worst leadership in the world” criticism of Cathy:
— Vanshay 🎥 NEW ACCOUNT (@mvanshay) May 6, 2026
“Thinking about the state of the world right now… that was a little dramatic… I’m still happy that I did it, and I think it had the intended effect of moving our negotiations along. I think an unintended… pic.twitter.com/G8m1Bc1Ofp
She went on to explain that she thinks Engelbert is a great “businesswoman,” but she was lacking the connection built with the players.
Collier admitted that she told Engelbert about these thoughts before her exit interview, but she hasn’t spoken to the commissioner about the accusations since. The Minnesota star notably canceled a meeting with Engelbert days after her exit interview. The two have spoken in general since the press conference, especially during the CBA negotiations, but never about the exact comments Collier made about the commissioner.
These concerns Collier has about the WNBA’s leadership are things that can constantly be improved in any sports league, but especially in the W as players now have a more watchful eye on what Engelbert and the league does.
Various WNBA stars supported Collier’s original comments
Collier’s press conference lit up the WNBA world last fall. More and more players felt comfortable speaking out against Engelbert and the WNBA leadership just as Collier did. Here’s a reminder of some of the players who publicly commented after Collier.
Caitlin Clark admitted that Collier made “a lot of very valid points.” This response was interesting since Collier also shared that Engelbert told her that “Caitlin should be grateful” and that "players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them." These alleged comments from Engelbert stem from Collier’s concern about young stars not getting paid enough (which has since been somewhat resolved in the new CBA). Engelbert denied making these statements.
In response to the alleged comments made by Engelbert above, reigning MVP A’ja Wilson said she was “disgusted” by what the commissioner said. Here’s her full quote:
"I just want to say I was honestly disgusted by the comments that Cathy [Engelbert] made," Wilson said. "But at the same time, I'm very appreciative that we have people like Phee in our players association representing us, because that's what we're going to have to continue to make the push to stand on what we believe in. I'm grateful to have those types of people be able to continue to speak up for us. I'm gonna ride with Phee always. ... We gotta continue to stand on business."
Clark’s Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham expressed her support for Collier saying, “we all feel that way, and we’re all going to back her,” in regards to her comments made about the W’s leadership.
Angel Reese also tweeted out saying “10/10. No notes!” following Collier’s press conference. The Lynx star definitely had the support of her fellow players throughout the chaos last fall.
More WNBA from Sports Illustrated
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- Olivia Miles Is Fitting Right in With the Lynx Ahead of 2026 WNBA Season Tip-Off
- WNBA Rookie Watch: How Did Azzi Fudd, Flau'jae Johnson Fare in Preseason?
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Napheesa Collier Regrets One Thing About Calling Out WNBA Boss Cathy Engelbert Over ‘Worst Leadership’.
