Caitlin Clark backs up Napheesa Collier’s comments about WNBA leadership
WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark agrees with Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier that the league needs better leadership. Clark spoke to reporters for the first time since her season ended July 15 during the Indiana Fever’s exit interviews on Thursday.
“I mean, first of all, I have great respect for ‘Phee. I think she made a lot of very valid points,” Clark said.
Why was Clark asked about Collier’s comments?
The Fever’s season ended Tuesday night with a Game 5 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the WNBA semifinals. Earlier that day, Collier used her own exit interview press conference to criticize WNBA leadership, specifically Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Collier said the commissioner told her that 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.” Clark said she hadn’t heard that story before Tuesday.
“What people need to understand — we need great leadership at this time across all levels,” Clark said. “This is straight up the most important moment in this league’s history. This league’s been around for 25-plus years, and this is a moment we have to capitalize on. So that’s honestly what I would say. ‘Phee said it all, with what she said.”
How did Clark’s 2025 season end?
Clark, the face of the WNBA since she was picked No. 1 overall in 2024, was limited to 13 games this season because of various injuries. She hadn’t played since July 15, when she suffered the right groin injury that ultimately ended her season. An All-Star for the second straight season, Clark averaged 16.5 points, 8.8 assists and five rebounds in her 13 games. She was asked what great leadership looks like.
“It is all about relationships and that’s the truth,” Clark said. “I know that’s really hard to say in professional sports. 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. Why would my teammates want to listen to me if I didn’t have a relationship with them? I think it’s the most simple thing.”
Engelbert released a statement on social media shortly after Collier’s press conference in response to the story about Clark.
“I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver,” Engelbert said.
The social media backlash didn’t paint Engelbert in a favorable light. The Sports Business Journal reported this week that the WNBA is heading toward a leadership change with Engelbert “likely” on her way out after the current CBA negotiations are resolved.
How did Sophie Cunningham react to the controversy?
Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham, never one to hold her tongue, was even more direct. She said she is not a fan of the commissioner and has been hearing sympathy from fans and even NBA players about how terrible they are being treated. She said the players are frustrated.
“I’m just tired of our league,” Cunningham said. “They need to step up and be better. Our leadership from top to bottom needs to be held accountable. I think that there are a lot of people in the position of power in the WNBA who might be really great business people, but they don’t know s–t about basketball, and that’s got to change.”
Cunningham characterized the state of collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the league as “very, very poor.” The current CBA between the players’ union and the WNBA expires on Oct. 31. She said the players have a call on Thursday to get an update.
“There’s a potential lockout, because I promise you that we are not going to play until they give us what we deserve,” Cunningham said. “And that’s kind of where it’s headed, unfortunately, which would be the dumbest basketball decision business-wise ever, considering the momentum the WNBA has right now.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
