I'm not generally one to quote the Bible, but it feels justified given the revolution currently underway in the WNBA. The Book of Proverbs says, "Pride goeth before destruction," a phrase that is usually said today as "Pride comes before the fall." You don't have to be a Biblical scholar to understand how this applies to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose hubris has turned the best women's basketball players in the world against her so thoroughly that it's impossible to envision a scenario in which she continues on as the head of the league.
Minnesota Lynx star and MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier let loose on WNBA leadership and Engelbert specifically with a four-minute prewritten statement on Tuesday. If you haven't watched it yet, you really should.
Napheesa Collier’s full statement today, where she challenged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA with directness and stunning detail we rarely hear from active players. Worth listening to every word. pic.twitter.com/IRTvTc52EA
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) September 30, 2025
Collier blasted a "lack of accountability from the league office." She decried the current state of officiating and wondered whether the league cares at all about the health of the players or the quality of the product on the floor.
"The league has a buzzword that they've rolled out as talking points for the CBA as to why they can't pay the players what we're worth," she said. "That word is sustainability. But what's truly unsustainable is keeping a good product on the floor while allowing officials to lose control of games." Despite these shortcomings being obvious to players, coaches and fans, Collier said, "leadership just issues fines and looks the other way."
She made sure that there could be no mistaking her point when she said, "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." Boom, mic drop.
Collier is enormously respected around the league. She's not only a phenomenal player, she's also the vice president of the players union and a staunch advocate for women's basketball. She co-founded the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league with Breanna Stewart that began play at the beginning of this year so that players had another revenue stream and another platform to show off their talents.
Since putting out her statement, she's gotten support from too many other players to count, including four-time MVP A'ja Wilson, Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese, one of the most popular players in the sport. Her words came just a few days after her head coach Cheryl Reeve went off on the state of officiating after Game 1 of the Lynx's series with the Phoenix Mercury. Other coaches around the league have applauded her for her words, such as the Indiana Fever's Stephanie White.
The WNBA Players Association also put out a statement in support of Collier, saying "Napheesa Collier is an outstanding leader and Officer of this Union. When Phee speaks, people listen. We are confident that her words today speak to the feelings and experiences of many, if not most or all of our members."
Cathy Engelbert could use a friend, but she's not going to find one in Caitlin Clark
The backlash Engelbert has received has been so absolute and so overwhelming that it seems impossible that the support of any one player could possible save her at this point. If there was one, though, it would be Caitlin Clark, the WNBA's most popular player and the single biggest reason for the sharp rise in viewership, ticket sales and attention that the league has experienced in the last two years.
Given what Collier relayed that Engelbert said about Clark in particular, the commissioner shouldn't expect a lifeline anytime soon from the young Fever star.
"At Unrivaled this past February, I sat across from Cathy and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league," Collier said. "Her response was, 'Well only the losers complain about the refs.' I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin, Angel and Paige, who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years. Her response was, 'Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything."
Collier also said that Engelbert told her, "Players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them."
I could honestly quote Collier's entire statement and it would only keep getting worse for Engelbert, but I won't keep beating a dead horse. There are spectacular levels of delusion at play here for Engelbert, who fancies herself the hero and the savior of these women.
Caitlin Clark was making bank while she was playing basketball at the University of Iowa. She didn't get a Gatorade contract or a signature shoe deal or really anything she's earned because of something that Engelbert did. This isn't a chicken-or-egg scenario. This is a chicken-or-omelette situation, with Engelbert, the omelette, somehow arguing she came before Clark, the chicken.
Per the Fever, Clark has no comment on the situation, which is the diplomatic thing to do. There's certainly no way she'd stand with Engelbert, and besides, she has her de facto enforcer Sophie Cunningham to indirectly speak for her.
Cunningham is many things, but diplomatic is not one of them. She's been on the wrong end of some of those fines Collier spoke about, and she said on Instagram, "people only know Cathy because of C…. She’s the most delusional leader our league has seen." She then followed it up with another post that screamed, "AND IT SHOULDN’T EVER BE ABOUT OUR COMMISSIONER IN THE FIRST PLACE."
Cunningham absolutely nailed the heart of the problem right there. Engelbert has a terminal case of main character syndrome, a hero complex that has led her to believe that the WNBA's successes have come because of her and what her brilliant mind has been able to do.
Just like fans don't tune in to games to watch the refs, they also don't watch because they like the commissioner. Engelbert isn't the main attraction, but she thinks she is.
The WNBA has never had more talent than it has at this very moment. It's never had more great role models or more vivacious personalities. The league would be experiencing success no matter who was commissioner, and there's a great argument to be made that it would be in an even better spot if it had a commissioner who cared more about the players and valued what they bring to the table.
It's a shame that the Finals, which begin on Friday, are being overshadowed to some degree by Collier's statement, but it's the right words at the right time for a league that should be capitalizing on the moment together. Whoever succeeds Engelbert when she inevitably resigns in the coming days needs to understand that. The WNBA needs the players, not the other way around.