Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert were supposed to meet this week in an attempt to repair their hampered relationship. But that’s no longer happening — as ESPN first reporter — and on Monday night, Collier told Axios why.
Napheesa Collier reveals why she cancelled Cathy Engelbert meeting
The situation between Collier and Engelbert is becoming increasingly dicey.
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Noa Dalzell is a senior writer covering the WNBA and all of women’s basketball for Breakaway, SB Nation’s women’s sports vertical, as well as the Celtics for CelticsBlog.
It all began when Collier shocked the basketball world last week in her Lynx exit interview. Collier admonished league leadership as “the worst leadership in the world” and criticized Engelbert for not reaching out to her after her injury, among other grievances.
The two most noteworthy moments came when she aired out several, now-infamous remarks that Engelbert had privately told her in February.
- ‘[Clark] should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’
- ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’
Multiple sources contacted by ESPN said Collier had relayed Engelbert’s comments to them within several days of the February meeting.
On Friday, however, Engelbert denied making those comments about Clark in a press conference.
“Obviously, I did not make those comments,” Engelbert said. “There is a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all of this reporting.”
That denial didn’t sit well with Collier, she told Axios: “I think she encapsulated what I was talking about in my statement.”
”For her to start her speech saying she has the utmost respect for me and for the players, and then to turn around and call me a liar three minutes later ... denying words that I heard come straight out of her mouth,” Collier said. “I think it just speaks to that lack of accountability, and so I really have nothing further to say.”
Why did Collier initially go public with her remarks?
She shed light on that thought process in a sit-down panel with Kamala Harris on Monday night, per Axios reporter Maxwell Millington.
“For so long, we tried to have these conversations in the meetings with the league,” Collier said.. I saw nothing was changing. Coaches and players were complaining about the same things over and over again. we weren’t seeing a change. Whether I was going to get annihilated for this, or people were going to support me, I felt what I was doing was right. I felt like it needed to be said.”
What’s next between WNBA players, leadership
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who appointed Engelbert, told reporters on Monday that he thinks the relationship between players and Engelbert can be repaired.
“Cathy Engelbert has presided over historic growth in the league but there’s no question that there’s issues that we need to address with our players, not just economic,” Silver said. “There’s relationship issues as well. I’m confident we can fix those over time and this league can continue to be on the rocket trajectory that it’s on right now.”
The WNBA players’ union and the league have until October 31st to negotiate a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. A lockout looms on the horizon.
”I think we have a lot of momentum right now,” Collier said. “We’re just pushing as hard as we can to make sure that we are getting the best deal that we can.”
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