Napheesa Collier slammed the WNBA's
leadership. Here's why that matters
[October 02, 2025]
By DOUG FEINBERG
Napheesa Collier is more than just a WNBA star who is critical of
her league and its leadership.
The Minnesota Lynx player is a vice president of the players union,
which means she will be sitting across from WNBA Commissioner Cathy
Engelbert at the negotiating table ahead of an Oct. 31 deadline to
reach a new collective bargaining agreement.
If that doesn't cause enough tension, Collier is also a co-founder
of Unrivaled, a three-on-three women’s basketball league that plays
in the winter and features WNBA stars. That could give her
additional leverage to try to press the WNBA as talks unfold.
Here's a look at some of the implications of Collier's
headline-grabbing comments.
Player negotiations with the WNBA are already tense. Could they
get worse?
As an executive on the negotiating team, Collier will have a loud
voice in the room when in-person negotiations between the two sides
continue. She was at the face-to-face meeting at All-Star weekend in
July that included dozens of players. There have been meetings
since, but players haven't really been able to attend because
they've still been in season.
“We’re working hard to make sure that we are putting ourselves in
the best position to negotiate for what we think is fair," said
Collier, who has torn ligaments in her left ankle. “We have a lot of
meetings internally to make sure we’re on the same page and we’re
all lockstep for this. Just making sure we’re super aligned.”
There also is the trust factor. During her comments at an
end-of-season media session this week, Collier revealed
conversations that were to remain private that she had had with the
commissioner in February. That could undermine trust that is often
needed to carry out negotiations.
For all the faults that Collier cited in her prepared comments,
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 commissioner has said all along that the league is hoping for a
transformational agreement that includes significantly increased
player salaries and benefits. There's little reason for Collier's
remarks to detract from that goal.
How are other players responding to Collier's comments?
Players across the league backed Collier either on social media or
at Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals series between Las Vegas and
Indiana that the Aces won in overtime.
WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson said she was appreciative of Collier and the
union for standing up for the players.
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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a news conference
before the WNBA All-Star basketball game, Saturday, July 19, 2025,
in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
“I’m grateful to have those type of people to be able to continue to
speak up for us,” Wilson said after the Aces advanced to the WNBA
Finals. “I’m going to ride with Phee always. Obviously, she’s a
business girlie and she has her own stuff going on, but moving
forward, we’ve gotta continue to stand on business as we talk about
this CBA negotiation.”
Other players, including Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, backed
Collier on social media, calling her "Queen Phee" in an Instagram
Story while the song “Pink Pony Club” plays in the background.
What do the negotiations mean for free agency?
Nearly every player not on a rookie contract will be a free agent
this offseason, hoping to cash in on a potential giant leap in the
league's salary structure. Free agency usually has taken place in
January, with players meeting with teams and able to sign in
February.
Players have been able to work out and get treatment for injuries at
their former team's facility in the offseason before becoming free
agents. In a worst-case scenario where owners decided to lock out
the players or the players decided to go on strike, those courtesies
would go away.
Could Collier's Unrivaled league give players more leverage?
The 3-on-3 league will start its second season in January and
already has expanded to 54 players and added two new teams. The
domestic league, made up entirely of WNBA players, now gives players
another option to earn money, which would lessen the impact of a
lockout or strike.
Last season, players in the league had an average salary of more
than $220,000, which was close to the maximum base salary in the
WNBA.
Unrivaled will add Bueckers to an already loaded roster that
includes Collier, Breanna Stewart and Angel Reese. It also has set
itself up for the future by offering NIL deals to many of the top
college players.
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