WNBA player defends explosive allegations against Kamala Harris commissioner

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris hosted WNBA star Napheesa Collier at the activists’ summit, “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation,” this week, where the player recently opened up about an explosive conversation with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Collier recently alleged that Engelbert said in a private conversation: “[Caitlin Clark] should be grateful that she made $16 million off the court, because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,” and that “the players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal I got them.” »

In her conversation with Harris, Collier defended her decision to make these statements publicly, as the WNBA players’ union is currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement with the league.

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“Regardless of the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done,” Collier said.

“I’m a member of the union for our collective bargaining, as well as our collective bargaining for our league, and for so long I felt like I was seeing what was going on behind closed doors,” she added. “For so long, we tried to have these conversations and make things happen in the meetings that we would have with the league within our management. And I didn’t see anything change. The coaches, winners and losers, were complaining about the same things over and over, the players over and over, and we weren’t seeing the change that our management was trying to make.

“I think I got to the point where I was fed up. …Whether I was going to be devastated for it or people were going to support me, I felt like what I was doing was right. I felt like it needed to be said, so no matter the consequences, I felt like it was something that needed to be done.

NAPHEESA LYNX COLLAR RAILS AGAINST WNBA LEADERSHIP, CALLS FOR OFFICIAL CHANGES

Team Collier forward Napheesa Collier (24) looks on before the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 19, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)

Engelbert said At a news conference last week, she did not comment on Clark.

“Obviously, I didn’t 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,” Engelbert said.

Engelbert responded to the alleged comments about other players, saying there had been a lot of “inaccuracies” reported in the media, but she did not explicitly deny making those comments like she did Clark’s alleged comments.

Caitlin Clark poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected as the No. 1 pick by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York on April 15, 2024. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

“There are a lot of inaccuracies through social media and all these reporting,” Engelbert said. “A lot of reporting, a lot of inaccuracies about what I said, what I didn’t say.”

Engelbert later said: “I’m disheartened. I’m a human too. I have a family. I have two children who are devastated by these comments. So all I’m saying is it’s obviously been a tough week, and I just think there’s a lot of insecurity out there.”

Still, Engelbert acknowledged that if players don’t feel “appreciated,” then she needs to do better.

“I was disheartened to hear that some players are feeling the league and that I personally don’t care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night.

“If the ‘W’ players don’t feel appreciated and valued by the league, we have to do better, and I have to do better.”

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)

The players’ association and the WNBA agreed to an eight-year deal in 2020, but the WNBPA voted last year to prematurely opt out of the deal. The current agreement expires on October 31.

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