{"id":267809,"date":"2025-10-01T00:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T00:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/267809\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T00:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T00:22:09","slug":"wnba-stars-support-napheesa-collier-after-critical-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/267809\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA stars support Napheesa Collier after critical comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

WNBA players are throwing their support behind Napheesa Collier after her scathing statement about the league\u2019s leadership, and in particular, commissioner Cathy Engelbert.<\/p>\n

Collier criticized the WNBA<\/a> as having \u201cthe worst leadership in the world\u201d when she spoke with reporters for her exit interview after the Lynx were eliminated from the WNBA semifinals by the Mercury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A slew of players across the league have voiced their support in one form or another for the five-time All-Star and her comments on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Napheesa Collier during the second half of the Lynx\u2019s Game 3 loss to the Mercury on Sept.26, 2025 in Phoenix. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese posted on X<\/a>, \u201c10\/10. No notes!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby posted on X<\/a>: \u201c@PHEEsespieces thank you for your bravery!!!!!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fellow Sparks star Cameron Brinks shared Collier\u2019s more than four-minute-long statement in an Instagram Story, and WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers posted a photo of herself and Collier with the words \u201cQueen Phee\u201d written under it with a crown emoji.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I agree with everything [Collier] said,\u201d Indiana Fever star Lexie Hull told reporters in Las Vegas, according to ESPN<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re at a really important time in the league and changes need to be made, and so you\u2019re seeing her talk about that, and really proud of her for making that statement today.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison weighed in on X<\/a>, writing, \u201cStanding with Phee.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among those who offered support was the WNBAPA .<\/p>\n

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a press conference announcing a WNBA franchise in Cleveland on September 16, 2025 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cNapheesa Collier is an outstanding leader and Officer of this Union,\u201d the union said in a statement of Collier, who serves as the WNBPA vice president. \u201cWhen 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. The leaders of the league and its teams would benefit from listening to her powerful statement. The players know their value even if the league does not. They are fighting for their legacy and the future of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark did not have a comment on Collier\u2019s statement, a spokesperson for the Fever told multiple outlets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among the revelations from Collier was Engelbert\u2019s alleged passive view of the players.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Minnesota star Napheesa Collier watches from the bench during the second half of the Lynx\u2019s Game 4 loss to the Mercury on Sept. 28, 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past February, I sat across from [Engelbert] and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,\u201d Collier said. \u201cHer response was, \u2018Well, only the losers complain about the refs.\u2019 I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like [Clark, Reese and Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer response was, \u2018[Clark] should be grateful. She makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn\u2019t make anything.\u2019 And in that same conversation, she told me, \u2018Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In a statement, Engelbert said she has the \u201cutmost respect\u201d for Collier and the league\u2019s players and said she was \u201cdisheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA players are throwing their support behind Napheesa Collier after her scathing statement about the league\u2019s leadership, and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":267810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[233,1519,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-267809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-caitlin-clark","9":"tag-minnesota-lynx","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115296059144417189","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}