WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Friday there’s work to be done to repair relationships with players in the league, while adding that there were “inaccuracies” in some of the comments attributed to her by Napheesa Collier in a blistering assessment earlier this week.
“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and that I personally do not care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Friday night. “If the players in the ‘W’ don’t feel appreciated and value from the league, we have to do better and I have to do better.”
In wide-ranging comments, Engelbert said officiating will be reviewed this offseason by a new “state of the game” committee. The commissioner also said the league and the players’ union have meetings scheduled for next week to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement. Engelbert also said she plans to remain as commissioner after a CBA is finalized.
As for comments that Collier said Engelbert made in private conversations about Caitlin Clark needing the WNBA to succeed financially, the commissioner denied saying them.
“Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game,” Engelbert said. “She’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game.”
Engelbert said she’s talked to Collier, the Minnesota Lynx star who said Tuesday that the league has “the worst leadership in the world” and a commissioner who lacks accountability. The two will meet next week, either in person or virtually, Engelbert said.
The status of CBA negotiations
Engelbert believes a new CBA deal will get done, albeit not necessarily by the Oct. 31 deadline.
“That is a real deadline from that perspective. We have extended deadlines in the past,” she said. “I know last time when I was only a couple days on the job, we got to an extension and got a deal done. … I feel confident that we can get a deal done, but if not, I think we could do an extension.”
Engelbert said higher salaries for players is a goal both sides share.
“We continue to meet and have important conversations with the players’ association. I want to reiterate that we want much of the same things that the players want,” Engelbert said. “We want to significantly increase the increase their salary and benefits, while also supporting the long-term growth and viability of the WNBA.”
Officiating review
Engelbert said it’s clear there are differences between the way players and coaches feel about the physical nature of the game and the way the referees officiate.
The committee tasked with reforming officiating will include players, coaches, general managers and others.
“I think it’s pretty clear that we’re misaligned currently on what our stakeholders want from officiating,” Engelbert said. “We have heard loud and clear that we have not lived up to that needed alignment.”
Engelbert said the league needs to look at “good, aggressive play that we recognize has evolved into rough play and how to calibrate the line for legal and illegal content to ensure player safety and exciting competition.”
Engelbert’s job status
Engelbert denied reports that she’ll be leaving the WNBA after the new CBA is finished.
“I’ve never been a quitter. I’m entering my 40th year, actually, this month in business. Never been a quitter. I’ve never shied away from tough situations,” she said.
Engelbert has delivered on many of her promises since coming into the league in 2019. She will have added six expansion teams by 2030 and secured a major new media rights deal for the next decade that will bring in more than $2.2 billion. Engelbert also had the league pay for a full charter flight program this season that the players hope will be added to the new CBA to address concerns about issues ranging from safety to travel time.
The league has enjoyed monumental growth over the last few years, and Engelbert said she knows there’s more work to be done.
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