Speaking truth to power has always been in the DNA of the WNBA.
Ask the Atlanta Dream of 2020 when they rallied from the bubble in an election year in support of Raphael Warnock in his U.S. Senate race in Georgia against former owner Kelly Loeffler.
Ask players of three teams who wore shirts to bring awareness to the murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
If “shut up and dribble” is your thing, the WNBA is not for you.
Recently, the Minnesota Lynx were eliminated from this year’s playoffs thanks to the Phoenix Mercury which won its series of Cheryl Reeve’s Lynx 3-1. Minnesota fell apart at the worst possible time – losing DiJonai Carrington prior to the series, losing Napheesa Collier for Game 4 and losing Reeve for postgame remarks she made about the officiating.
Typically when a season comes to a close, players and coaches will make end-of-season remarks looking back on the year it was and thinking about the next season.
The Phee that was at that microphone at the Lynx’s end-of-season presser was not All-Star MVP Collier nor was it the Phee who has established herself as one of the best players in the WNBA today.
It was Napheesa Collier – one of the vice presidents of the WNBPA.
The playoffs have been a nice distraction from the current collective bargaining agreement battle between league and players. But Phee starkly reminded us there is still indeed a CBA fight going on and October 31 is the deadline date for the current CBA.
Collier did more than simply state the typical about players wanting a more equitable CBA given the increasing number of revenue streams heading the WNBA’s way – including a recently-inked television rights deal with Versant-owned USA Network.
She aired out dirty laundry of her conversations between her and commissioner Cathy Engelbert. She alleged that Engelbert said players should be thankful for the media rights deals she has inked, that she said only “losers” complain about officiating and that the WNBA gives Caitlin Clark the platform to make all of the $16 million she makes away from the game. She even called the WNBA as having the “worst leadership in the world.”
Clark inked her deal with Nike as an NIL deal while she was at Iowa – a Nike school – which became a full endorsement when she was drafted first overall in the 2024 draft by the Indiana Fever.
Collier also drew a stark contrast to how officiating has been handled in the W and how officiating has been handled in Unrivaled where concerns of players were addressed much more swiftly.
Phee did many things in that press conference – and one of them that she did was paint a picture of simply how wide the gulf is between the players and the league. It is obvious that the two sides are nowhere near coming to terms on a new CBA – and may not be for a while.
Since then, there has been an outpouring of support and solidarity behind what Collier said – including from notable names such as A’ja Wilson, Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese, Alysha Clark and many others. Even the recently retired Elena Delle Donne chimed in and mentioned how she has not heard from Engelbert since she made her retirement announcement.
Two things are true at once. Engelbert’s time as commissioner has seen incredible growth of the WNBA – in terms of expansion, money and the league’s platform. But long-term, it is a fair question as to if Engelbert is the correct person to lead the WNBA into the future.
Engelbert is the first individual to ever hold the title of “commissioner” in the W’s history – Val Ackerman, Donna Orender, Laurel Richie and Lisa Borders all were “league presidents.” The WNBA even having a commissioner is a step in the correct direction.
Yes, a commissioner’s job primarily is to represent the owners. But a commissioner – a smart commissioner – also needs to understand that there is no WNBA without the players. After all, when all is said and done, the players are the W’s marquee product.
Engelbert even had to issue her own statement through WNBA public relations – one in which she did not deny anything that Phee said at her presser.
Collier’s comments may have all but guaranteed a lockout – but if it takes a lockout for WNBA players to get a fair deal from the league, it may have to happen.
There is no reason why the league should continue to play the broke card with the number of new revenue streams that have been created. And with these new revenue streams, the players should certainly receive more than the meager amount of league revenues it receives because so much of the growth has been player-driven.
The biggest takeaway Collier’s comments is that it paints Engelbert as a commissioner that is so committed to her job as representative of the owners that she metaphorically places her head in the sand on player issues. There is even a reason why sources have said to Sports Business Journal that when this current CBA negotiation is in the books that Engelbert may resign as commissioner.
Engelbert may not exactly be the most popular individual among WNBA circles – but that will lead to plenty of speculation as to who could replace her.
We have anecdotal evidence of Engelbert putting her foot in her mouth. Last year, she did an interview with CNBC where she was asked about the racism that had festered from a select number of Clark’s fans in the direction of Angel Reese. Engelbert’s answer was to compare Clark and Reese to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s.
That was such a disastrous answer Engelbert had to issue a tweet which was pure damage control. The WNBPA even put out a statement in response.
A key criticism Engelbert has faced is how she comes across as if she is still an executive at Deloitte – the same Deloitte which appears on the primary splash for the W’s app. She seemingly does not know how to understand that there are occasions that do not call for her to speak with a corporate tone.
Thinking about this and considering what Collier said in her press conference, there appears to be validity behind this criticism.
When a commissioner literally looks at everything through a business prism, the opportunities for actual relationship building can be limited. Yes – business is important as it is what the WNBA is at the end of the day.
But if one cannot see the human side of facing an obscenely high level of racism at one’s work and one’s work becoming a toxic environment, then it is exactly the sort of thing that will create friction between executives and the rank and file.
That is what Collier highlighted with her comments – that there appears to be an aura of indifference with Engelbert where she callously brushes off player concerns.
A particularly sad part is if Engelbert is so stubborn where she stunts the WNBA’s momentum so much because of its refusal to ensure the players – which make its product – are rewarded with a fair and equitable CBA.
Collier said what had to be said – because the players more than deserve a fair deal. And the WNBA more than deserves leadership that, at the bare minimum understands, that the best women’s basketball players in the world deserve to be treated – and taken care of – like the best women’s basketball players in the world.
If several teams can see it – then what is stopping the W? As is the case with so many aspects of life, the answers can be found at the top.
In other words…Napheesa’s had it up to here.
