It’s uncommon in skilled sports activities to see a star publicly excoriate league management. Final week, the Minnesota Lynx ahead Napheesa Collier delivered a savage takedown of commissioner Cathy Engelbert, saying the game had “the worst management on this planet” and accusing Engelbert of jeopardizing participant security by failing to handle issues with poor officiating.
“The true menace to our league isn’t cash,” Collier stated. “It isn’t rankings and even missed calls and even bodily play. It’s the dearth of accountability from the league workplace.”
Collier’s blunt evaluation—in a press release she learn earlier than reporters—comes at an inflection level for the league. Rankings proceed to climb, constructing off the explosion in reputation that started final season with the arrival of the rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Franchise valuations have skyrocketed, and the league is including 5 extra groups by 2030. Final 12 months, the league introduced a media-rights deal that’s reportedly value billions. However the relationship between the gamers and their commissioner couldn’t be worse.
Greater than ever, the gamers know their value—and so they haven’t been shy about letting the league understand it. Earlier than the WNBA All-Star Recreation, the gamers wore T-shirts that learn Pay Us What You Owe Us in reference to their ongoing labor negotiations. The present settlement expires on the finish of October, and gamers have been demanding increased salaries and a better share of league income (they at the moment earn lower than 7 p.c, in contrast with the roughly 50 p.c that NBA gamers obtain).
In her speech, Collier shared the small print of a non-public dialog she stated she had with Engelbert throughout the offseason. In keeping with Collier, when she requested Engelbert how she deliberate to rectify the truth that younger sensations corresponding to Clark, Reese, and Paige Bueckers make small salaries regardless of driving league income, Engelbert stated that Clark ought to be “grateful” that the WNBA platform has allowed her to make hundreds of thousands off the court docket, in promoting and endorsements—regardless that Clark had a large following as a university star and signed a cope with Nike value a reported $28 million earlier than she ever performed a WNBA recreation. In the identical dialog, Collier stated Engelbert advised her: “Gamers ought to be on their knees, thanking their fortunate stars for the media-rights deal that I received them.”
“That’s the mentality driving our league from the highest,” Collier stated on the press convention. “The league believes it succeeds regardless of its gamers, not due to them.”
In a short assertion, Engelbert stated that she was “disheartened” by how Collier characterised their conversations and league management, and that she is dedicated to making sure the WNBA’s “vivid future.” She later denied saying that Clark ought to be “grateful” for the league, and stated she was establishing a process pressure to guage officiating the place gamers can be invited to specific their issues.
Collier’s candid remarks made clear simply how a lot the player-league relationship has soured in recent times. The gamers, some now family names because of the expansion of the league (and the success of a brand new three-on-three league that Collier herself co-founded), maintain extra energy. So far as they’re involved, the league ought to be grateful to them for remaining dedicated to its success, even because it treats their well-being as an afterthought.
Gamers throughout the league voiced their assist for Collier, together with Clark. “I believe what folks want to know: We want nice management on this time, throughout all ranges,” she stated. “That is straight up crucial second on this league’s historical past. This league’s been round 25-plus years, and this can be a second we’ve got to capitalize on. Phee stated all of it with what she stated, and I believe the factors she made have been very legitimate.”
Many noticed Engelbert’s weak response as emblematic of how she has dealt with issues from gamers and followers of the game extra broadly. Final September, Engelbert was requested how the league deliberate to handle racist feedback and abuse leveled by followers invested within the rivalry between Reese (who’s Black) and Clark (who’s white). “The one factor I find out about sports activities: You want rivalry. That’s what makes folks watch,” Engelbert stated. “They don’t need everyone being good to 1 one other.” (Engelbert later apologized, saying that her assertion had “missed the mark” and that there is no such thing as a place for hate within the WNBA.)
League management has lengthy been criticized for ignoring complaints that poor refereeing has led to an increasing number of aggression on court docket and gamers being injured in consequence. Collier’s personal season ended along with her in a boot after she collided with a Mercury participant over the past minute of a semifinal recreation, tearing ligaments in her ankle. Her coach, Cheryl Reeve, needed to be bodily restrained from confronting the officers on the court docket when they didn’t name a foul. In a postgame press convention, Reeve blasted the league for poor officiating throughout the board—and was slapped with a one-game suspension and $15,000 wonderful in return. Collier stated that when she introduced up issues about officiating to Engelbert months in the past, the commissioner had responded: “Solely the losers complain in regards to the refs.”
Collier’s assertion was a warning: “For too lengthy, I’ve tried to have these conversations in personal,” she stated. “The league has made it clear it isn’t about innovation. It isn’t about collaboration. It’s about management and energy.”
In some ways, Collier was the best particular person to ship this message. Not simply because she’s a vice chairman of the WNBA Gamers Affiliation, a five-time All-Star, and one of the vital revered voices within the league. However as a result of she has proved that it’s doable to pay ladies what they’re value and produce an outstanding basketball product. This January, she launched Unmatched, a smaller league that runs within the offseason and is already valued at $340 million. The common participant wage was $220,000, in contrast with about $120,000 within the WNBA. Having seen what’s doable—a gamers’ league with correct pay, cutting-edge services, and on-site baby care—the WNBA’s stars are not prepared to tolerate something much less.
*Sources: Brian Fluharty / Getty; David Sherman / NBAE / Getty; Geoff Stellfox / Getty.
