Napheesa Collier and the Ongoing Problems in the WNBA

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Vassar chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

On Tuesday, September 30th, the Minnesota Lynx, following their elimination from the playoffs, held exit interviews, during which Napheesa Collier spoke. During this interview, she openly criticized the head of the WNBA for her leadership and the direction that she was taking the WNBA. A week after her speech, Collier was quoted in an interview from USA Today saying, “ I just got to the point where I was fed up” and “No matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done.”

Collier’s speech outlines concerns with the leadership. She begins by saying that there is a lack of accountability within the league office, that it is not the poor refereeing, physicality, or money. Collier references a conversation she had with Cathy Engelbert, the head of the WNBA. In this conversation, Collier talks about the lack of adequate refereeing and the complaints from players throughout the WNBA, on both winning and losing sides. Engelbert dismissed this comment and said that only the losing teams complained about the refereeing. Collier then shifted the conversation to questioning why rookies like Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese, who brought so much income into the league, were getting paid so little. Collier recites Engelbert’s response as saying Caitlin Clark should be lucky that she is getting the platform that she has from the WNBA. All the players should be lucky that they are in a position in the WNBA to have a platform and the chance to profit. Collier says that the WNBA thinks they succeed despite the players, but in her words, they succeed because of the players. 

Collier’s speech comes back to her perspective and talks about the lack of care coming from the management, and how she has witnessed her husband, who runs the Unrivaled Basketball league. He reaches out to players during the league’s season who have been injured and those who have been injured during the WNBA season as well. While Collier got injured in the last game against the Phoenix Mercury, teammates and players in the WNBA reached out to her, checking in and wishing her well. Engelbert did not reach out, but had her number 2 reach out to Collier’s agent to check in. Finally, going on to say that this lack of leadership and understanding of player value is neglectful towards the league. Collier says that the WNBA has the best players in the world and the best fans but the worst leadership, but the worst leadership. She believes that it is her job to speak out against this and fight for change.

In an article from USA Today, Collier said, “I am on the union for CBA negotiations … and for so long, I felt like I saw what was going on behind closed doors. For so long, we tried to have these conversations and move the needle. … And I saw nothing was changing.” Collier saw the need for change in the WNBA and a total lack of willingness for the league to see it when coaches and players alike were calling for reform.

After Collier’s exit interview, Engelbert issued a response in a press conference before the beginning of the finals of the WNBA. Denying the claims that she ever said anything about players needing to be “grateful”. She also said, “If the players in the ‘W’ don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better and I have to do better”. She stated that there would be reform to the referring with a “new state of game” committee, and the players’ union had a meeting with the league for collective bargaining agreements.

In the midst of all of this, the league is still growing and evolving. The CBA (collective bargaining agreement) is in discussion with the league in raising the pay of WNBA players. For veterans, the current minimum wage is $78,831, while the new deal has the veteran minimum set at $300,000 and a supermax salary of $850,000 compared to $249,244. 

Women’s sports are gaining popularity at an exponential rate, and the infrastructure created around them has to be built to move and grow with them. This is not simply related to the WNBA but the NWSL, WPHL, professional softball, volleyball, and lacrosse teams all being created in the past 50 years. The popularity and consumption rates of these professional leagues can only grow as they draw more attention to themselves and the possibility of sports that were so long thought to be male-dominated. The WNBA is arguably one of the, if not the most popular, of these leagues, with famous players like Paige Bueckers, Aj’a Wilson, Angel Reese, Brianna Stewart, Caitlin Clark, and Sabrina Ionescu drawing in viewership.

Napheesa Collier’s call for change on Tuesday, September, sparked outrage and a need for change across the league and is already getting support from fellow players. Forcing the WNBA to address this, change is already starting to happen. Cathy Engelbert made this clear in her press conference before the opening game of the finals that changes need to be made to accommodate the players the league will try to do better and accommodate them. The change will not be immediate, but Collier brought the battle that the players are dealing with to attention. Although Engelbert’s words were broad, they attempt to address Collier’s worries more openly. Not a direct change or promises that Collier wrote about in her speech, but possibly a glimpse of hope for change in the future.