LAS VEGAS — 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 Minnesota Lynx forward 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 between the Phoenix Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces. “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.
As for comments that Collier said Engelbert made in private conversations about Indiana Fever star 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.”