Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert insisted she remained the right person to lead the league on Friday as she responded to an avalanche of recent criticism from leading players over her stewardship of the sport. Engelbert, speaking ahead of Friday’s opening game of the WNBA Finals in Las Vegas, has been in the crosshairs this week after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier accused her of “negligent” governance of the WNBA.
A slew of players have since spoken out in support of Collier, who said the WNBA suffered from the “worst leadership in the world” and detailed a range of grievances from inconsistent officiating to a failure to take players seriously. Collier also alleged Engelbert had been dismissive of criticisms by Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and a new generation of players who had boosted interest in the sport, saying they should be “on their knees” in gratitude for the commercial opportunities they had received.
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Asked directly about those remarks on Friday, Engelbert initially declined to be drawn before later denying she had used that phrase. “There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert told a press conference. “I have been in touch with Napheesa. We’ve exchanged texts, we’re talking next week … obviously a lot of reporting, lot of inaccuracy about what I did or didn’t say, so I’ll leave it there. I’m just obviously disheartened. I’m a human too. I have a family. I have two kids who are devastated by these comments. It’s obviously been a tough week.”
However, when asked later whether she felt players like Clark should be “grateful” for off-court earning opportunities, Engelbert replied: “Obviously I did not make those comments. Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game. She’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game … as I said, there’s a lot of inaccuracies reported out there, and I certainly did not say that.”
In her season-ending exit interview on Tuesday, Collier said the WNBA leadership had failed to get a grip on officiating errors, accusing the league of “self-sabotage”. WNBA players are also in the midst of negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and have called for a greater share of the revenues being brought into the sport, which has enjoyed a boom in recent seasons driven in large part by Clark’s arrival in the league.
“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league, and me personally, do not care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said in her opening remarks. “If the players don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better and I have to do better.” Engelbert said the WNBA’s competition committee would meet at the end of the season to evaluate the state of the game, including game rules, officiating, and player safety.
She also said players would be invited to contribute to the establishment of a “multi-stakeholder task force” that would address the issues raised by Collier and other players, including the failure to tackle rough play. “I think it’s pretty clear that we’re misaligned 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 and that attention and change is needed to serve the WNBA to the level of excellence that is not currently being met. We will take a hard look at what the proper line should be for good, aggressive play that we recognize has evolved into rough play.”
Engelbert also said the league wants to “significantly increase” the salary and benefits given to players while also ensuring the “long-term growth and viability” of the WNBA. Engelbert also insisted she was the right person to lead the league. “I’ve never been a quitter,” she said. “Never shied away from tough situations. I think leadership, the cream always rises to the top, and I’ve always been someone who believes in the fact that if there’s things we need to fix, we’re going to fix them.”
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