Sports
By Charlie Gainor, Staff Writer
The WNBA postseason is complete and a champion has been crowned, but the future of the league is uncertain amidst conflict between commissioner Cathy Engelbert and some of the league’s most high-profile players.
All throughout the WNBA season – which once again broke viewership records thanks to players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers – the payment of players soared into the spotlight as the league nears the end of its current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association (WNBPA).
Napheesa Collier exposed the WNBA commissioner’s comments about the players.
The meetings between players and the league office throughout the year were consistently condemned as “unsuccessful,” which has led to forms of protest like players wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts at the WNBA All-Star Game.
With the CBA set to expire at the end of this month, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier is leading the charge for player’s rights.
In her exit interview on Sept. 30th, the former Defensive Player of the Year and MVP-runner-up blasted Engelbert and the league office for their “lack of accountability” and disregard for their best players.
She cited a meeting with Engelbert in February, where they discussed terms of the renewed CBA. Collier stated that when asked about officiating reform, Engelbert said “only the losers care about the refs.” Furthermore, when asked about how she was going to fix disparate pay for the league’s star players who are driving massive revenue boosts, the commissioner’s response was even more damning.
Cathay Engelbert allegedly had scathing things to say about WNBA players and their salaries.
“[Engelbert’s] response was: ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,’” Collier said. “And in that same conversation, she [Engelbert] told me ‘Players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights I got them.’ That’s the mentality that’s keeping us from the top. We go to battle every day for a shield that doesn’t value us.”
This was an unprecedented stand of defiance between a player and its league in American sports history and players like Reese, Breanna Stewart and reigning MVP A’ja Wilson wasted no time backing Collier. Clark praised her for making “a lot of very valid points” and called this “the most important moment in the league’s history.”
Under the current CBA, only 9% of total revenue share in the WNBA goes to its players, a stark contrast from the NBA where the players get 49-51%. Clark, the most popular women’s basketball player in the world, is playing on a 4-year, $338,056 contract and making $78,000 a year from league play alone. Sports economist Dr. David Berri wrote for The New York Times that under NBA contract valuations, Caitlin Clark would be making $3 million a year, which is more than 38 times her current annual profit.
Officiating is also a particularly sore subject in the WNBA. Days before her statement, Collier strained her hamstring on hard contact in the final minutes of game three between the Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury and she needed to be helped off the court.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who was ejected for arguing the call, said that the employment of the refs by the league for a playoff game was “f***ing malpractice,” leading to a league-maximum $50,000 fine and one-game suspension. Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White were fined $1,000 for agreeing with Reeve on the incident and the Mercury coach was also fined for criticizing the refs ejecting him in the final minutes of game four of the Finals.
Engelbert, who has been commissioner since 2019, denied that she made the statements in her February meeting with Collier, but expressed remorse at the perception of the league office.
“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,” Engelbert said before game one of the WNBA Finals.
Shortly after this interview, Collier cancelled a scheduled meeting between her and Engelbert set for this week, making a lockout almost inevitable.
The only thing certain in the WNBA now is the dominance of the Las Vegas Aces, who swept the Mercury in four games for their third title in four years. A’ja Wilson put up 28.5 points per game to win Finals MVP, making her the first player ever to win MVP, DPOY and Finals MVP in the same year in league history.
