Collier, an outspoken advocate for players, slammed the state of officiating and player compensation, calling league leaders “tone deaf” and “dismissive.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Just like her fiery head coach, Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier may find her bank account a few thousand dollars lighter after torching WNBA league leadership in her exit interview Tuesday.
Collier, who was injured by hard contact during Game 3 of Minnesota’s season-ending playoff series with the Phoenix Mercury, began with a prepared statement taking issue with the competence of league officiating and how Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has responded to calls to take action. The MVP runner-up said she was opening up a conversation not about winning or losing, but something much bigger.
“The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings, or even missed calls or physical play. It’s about accountability from the league office,” Collier asserted. She said officiating across the WNBA has now reached levels of inconsistency that “plague our sport and undermine its integrity. “
Collier referred to hard fouls and physical play that have sidelined marquee players like Caitlin Clark and herself, and said everyone from coaches to players and even fans realizes that officials looking the other way is detrimental to the game. Everyone, Collier says, but Englebert and the league’s front office. She referred to it as “negligence.”
“Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage,” Collier told reporters. “Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders.”
The Lynx forward was also vocal and direct in her criticism of WNBA player compensation, saying that talent like Paige Bueckers, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, who are driving “massive revenue” for the league, should be making more. Collier recalled a conversation with Englebert in which the commissioner allegedly said Clark “should be grateful she makes $60 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”
“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,” Collier alleged. “The league believes it succeeds despite its players, not because of them.”
It was revealed Tuesday that Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was fined $15,000 for going at an official after Collier was injured in Game 3 by what she felt was an uncalled hard foul, and for blasting the league following the game. When asked by reporters if she thought she would be fined for Tuesday’s statement, she said she wasn’t concerned about that, but “for the future of our sport.”
“We have the best players in the world, we have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world,” Collier insisted.
At this point, there has been no official response from the commissioner or other league officials, but Collier’s comments have spread like wildfire across social media platforms.