Caitlin Clark shows support for Napheesa Collier, calls for better leadership from WNBA

Caitlin Clark hasn’t played a WNBA game since July 15 and hasn’t spoken to the media since before then. And yet, she found herself thrust into the spotlight this week through no fault of her own.

On Tuesday, while reading a statement during her exit interview, Lynx forward Napheesa Collier revealed alleged comments from league commissioner Cathy Engelbert about Caitlin Clark. The comments included Engelbert saying Clark should “be grateful” for the WNBA giving her a platform to earn sponsorship deals and that, without the league, “she wouldn’t be making anything.”

Clark spoke to the media on Thursday at her own exit interview in which she said she had not heard of Engelbert’s comments about her before Collier’s statement and that Engelbert had not spoken to her since Collier’s press conference. She also offered support for Collier and expressed a need for great leadership heading into this offseason.

“First of all, I have great respect for Phee and I think she made a lot of very valid points,” Clark said. “I think what people need to understand is we need great leadership at this time across all levels. This is, straight up, the most important moment in this league’s history. This league has been around for 25-plus years and this is a moment we have to capitalize on. That’s, honestly, what I would say. Phee said it all with what she said. I think the points she made were very valid.”

The league and the players’ union are in a standoff that looks destined for a lockout this winter. Tensions between the two sides were already high even before Collier’s press conference where she slammed the league’s leadership and, specifically, Engelbert.

Collier’s press conference felt like a turning point in negotiations between the two sides, and not in a good way. Reports began surfacing on Tuesday night that Engelbert would step down after the new CBA is signed, showing just how bad things have gotten.

When asked what she wants to see from the league’s leadership moving forward, Clark was very specific about the need for a better relationship with the players.

“It’s all about relationships and that’s the truth and I know that’s really hard to say in professional sports,” Clark said. “But whether it’s a relationship with your front office, whether it’s a relationship with the commissioner of the league, whether it’s a relationship with your teammates, that’s the most important thing in leadership.

“Everybody in professional sports comes from different walks of life. You have to be able to know why they are who they are. I think that’s super important.”

Considering where things appear to stand between the players and Engelbert, the relationship seems like it could hardly be worse. It’s a tough realization to come to when considering the magnitude of the moment the league is facing with these CBA negotiations, a point Clark later reiterated.

“Like I said, we are in the biggest moment in WNBA history,” Clark said. “There’s no denying that. Everybody knows that and everybody that’s in a place in power has a true responsibility, and even myself. We have a responsibility to make sure this game is in a great place going forward with the CBA and caring for our players and building this league to make sure it’s in a great spot for many years to come.”