Despite an engaging and entertaining WNBA Finals round, the criticism league commissioner Cathy Engelbert received from Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier has been grabbing the attention of fans and sports commentators alike. Ever since Collier delivered her nearly five-minute viral speech after her Lynx were eliminated in Game 4 of the semifinals, all eyes have been on the relationship between the W's leadership and players to see whether reconciling is still possible — especially with the CBA expiring at the end of the month.
Then, right before Game 1 of the Finals tipped off between the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces, Engelbert broke her silence about Collier's comments in a press conference with a statement that seemingly fractured the relationship beyond repair. According to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, sources around the WNBA are signaling that the breakdown could spell trouble for the league long-term while benefiting the Unrivaled League.
“The most important people in this entire ecosystem are the players,” one executive said. “Lock them out if you want to, but all you're going to do is ensure that Unrivaled becomes the big person on campus as opposed to the W.”
Unrivaled, an offseason league co-founded by Collier, her husband Alex Bazzell, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart, has played a large role in providing an alternative to having to go overseas to make a livable wage, supplementing players' arguably low WNBA salaries in the process. Sources from around the league reportedly believe that this falling out, paired with Unrivaled's growing popularity, will create an even bigger problem for the W with the collective bargaining agreement negotiations.
“She's already unpopular. So let her be the bad guy in CBA negotiations, then replace her,” said one league source involved in the talks.
Others voiced their opinion that Collier's comments and motives aren't made in good faith.
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“It's a total conflict of interest. [Collier's] husband runs the league that's in competition with the W, and she has equity in it,” another source speculated.
Either way, every WNBA player who's spoken out on the matter so far has stood behind Collier and her scathing critique of the league's leadership. What happens next is uncertain — including whether there will be a lockout or if these events will benefit Unrivaled at all — but it's clear that the battle is just beginning.
“This is an inflection point for the league. There is a root cause, and it's lack of transparency, lack of trust in the league, and the relationship between the players and the league,” another senior executive added.
“You can get transparency overnight, but trust is not built overnight. And [Engelbert has] lost [the trust]. She can't get it back overnight.”