Napheesa Collier’s Call For Change
Usually, season-ending exit interviews in the WNBA are light, disappointing, and relatively casual. Especially since the team is usually at the end of their season. This week, Napheesa Collier decided to user her exit interview to draw a clear line in the sand between herself, representing the players, and WNBA leadership. In the midst of Collective Bargaining negotiations, Collier made it explicit that WNBA leadership needs to be better. Reading a written statement, Collier kept receipts and spoke candidly and clearly about her issues with the league. Although she was on the podium alone, the social media support made it apparent that she was anything but alone.
Her primary issue was with the lack of consistency with the officiating in the WNBA, which has contributed to a level of physicality that some have argued is destroying the quality of the game. Collier said, “The real threat to our league isn’t money, it isn’t ratings, or even missed calls, or even physical play. It’s the lack of accountability from the league office.” She continued that when she expressed these thoughts to the league Commissioner, Catherine M. Engelbert, Engelbert remarked dismissively that complaining about refs is for losers.
“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.” The WNBA is seeing record numbers in terms of both views and game attendance, but Collier and other players feel as though the WNBA isn’t doing enough to enhance both the quality of the play and increase player revenue to match the increase in popularity. Collier explicitly called WNBA leadership the worst leadership in the world. The manner in which this statement was delivered implies that every method has been used to reach WNBA leadership, and Collier believes that this was the only way to reach them.
The immediate responses after her statement were fully supportive. A’ja Wilson, Angel Reese, and Nneka Ogwumike were among several players who voiced their support of Collier and backed her statements about the WNBA leadership. Some on social media even called for Engelbert to resign. This was magnified by Stephen A. Smith also going on ESPN and reiterating the outcry from social media that she should resign immediately. Initially, reports came out that she was planning to resign at the end of this season, especially with the WNBA finals beginning. But the WNBA came out and debunked those rumors and said she will not be exiting after the CBA negotiations.
Engelbert released a statement and said that the conversations that Collier mentioned were mischaracterized. In the statement, she didn’t respond directly to any of the accusations or any of the comments that Collier said she made. She expressed disappointment in the situation but not necessarily remorse. The issue here is that since they are in the middle of CBA negotiations and this will undoubtedly affect those negotiations. Collier is the Vice President of the WNBA Players Union, so she is actively part of those negotiations with Engelbert. It’s unclear how negotiations will look moving forward. Collier did mention popular players in the league earning the league like Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, and Paige Bueckers, a lot of attention, but the league isn’t compensating them accordingly. Engelbert’s response to this? Clark should be grateful for the platform of the WNBA.
There’s no way to predict how this will end, but we can certainly see what it has begun. This is the beginning of a new era for the WNBA. Either the league leadership will acquiesce to the players, or there will definitely be a lockout after this season. But the players don’t look like they will be backing down and are willing to go to war to be protected and compensated.