WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed recent criticism from multiple star players when speaking to reporters ahead of Friday night’s Game 1 of the 2025 Finals.
Engelbert’s press conference took place three days after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said the WNBA had the “worst leadership in the world” in an exit interview that later received support from other stars including A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark.
“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league, and me personally, do not care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said Friday before the Las Vegas Aces opened the championship series against the Phoenix Mercury. “And if the players in the W do not feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better, and I have to do better.
“We know how great these players are, on and off the court, how much they mean to our league, our fans and our communities. If they don’t feel that, I will do everything I can to change that. No one should ever doubt how deeply I care about this league, this game, and every single player who makes the WNBA what it is.”
Engelbert later said she was “obviously disheartened” with the public schism between herself and WNBA players.
“I’m a human too. I have a family. I have two kids who were devastated by these comments. So all I’ll say is, it’s obviously been a tough week, and I just think there’s a lot of inaccuracy out there,” Engelbert said.
Engelbert added, “The players have been great, overall, I think. So, I feel confident that we can repair any loss of trust.”
Collier, who also serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the WNBA Players’ Association, criticized Engelbert’s leadership shortly after she suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the Lynx’s penultimate playoff game.
Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve received an ejection and one-game suspension for her reaction to the play, which did not draw a foul, and for her post-game criticism of the league’s officiating.
Collier told reporters Tuesday she had previously discussed her own concerns with WNBA officials during a private conversation with Engelbert, and that the commissioner had responded, “Well, only the losers complain about the refs.”
According to Collier, Engelbert was also asked if she had plans to increase the value of rookie contracts for stars driving the league’s popularity such as Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers.
“Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful. She makes 16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,'” Collier said about Engelbert. “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.’
“That’s the mentality driving our league from the top. We go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn’t value us.”
The Athletic’s Sabreena Merchant recently reported that Collier had not given the WNBAPA advance warning about her statement, but that “players are widely in agreement with her sentiments and the state of negotiations for the new CBA.”
Regarding Collier’s comments regarding WNBA officiating, Engelbert indicated she sees problems with officiating as kind of growing pain for any professional sports league.
“Our game is faster, featuring more talent, and the game is more competitive than ever before. And with that evolution, game rules interpretation and officiating has to keep pace,” Engelbert said. “Every major league goes through this.”
Engelbert also flatly denied that she had made some of the comments quoted in Collier’s exit interview, especially those regarding Clark.
“Obviously, I did not make those comments,” Engelbert said. “Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game… There was a lot of inaccuracies reported out there, and I certainly did not say that.”
When asked if she expects herself to remain the WNBA’s commissioner past the current collective bargaining agreement, Engelbert answered, “Never been a quitter, never shied away from a tough situation.”
Engelbert continued, “My staff, and the staff of the teams, and the owners in this league, have made tons of investments to get to where we are today. And so I’m not going to shy away. I’m the commissioner of this league, the leader of this league… there’s so many more things that we can do together, and I hope that the players see that.”
The public split between some of the WNBA’s top players and Engelbert comes just weeks ahead of the Oct. 31 deadline to agree on a new CBA. The New York Post‘s Madeline Kenney reported back in July that players were “bracing” for a potential lockout if that deadline wasn’t met.
Kelsey Plum, who serves as first VP of the WNBA players’ union, recently told Merchant there have “been multiple proposals that have gone back and forth, and neither is close.”
Engelbert said Tuesday that WNBA leadership wants “much of the same things that the players want.”
“We want to significantly, and I mean significantly, increase their salary and benefits, while also supporting the long-term growth and viability of the WNBA,” Engelbert said. “We have made proposals to that end… We will continue to negotiate in good faith until we get a transformative deal done.”
Engelbert added that she “hopes” negotiations can conclude by Oct. 31 but noted there is an option to extend the deadline, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
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