WNBA ALL-STAR NAPHESA COLLIER on the League: “WORST LEADERSHIP OF THE WORLD”

Minnesota Lynx striker, who is an All-Star five times and vice-president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, used Tuesday’s press conference to affirm that the WNBA is poorly managed. “We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world,” said collar. “But right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.”

The Lynx ended his season after a four -game defeat against the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday. Necklace injured herself in the ankle in match 3 after she came across the field, with the Alyssa Thomas du Mercury who had stolen the ball. When a fault was not called on the game, Lynx coach, Cheryl Reeve, charged the court to challenge a referee and was ejected from the match. Reeve would have been sentenced to a fine of $ 15,000 and suspended for match 4 after animated comments at a press conference in which she called for officiating changes across the league.

Necklace has devoted many of her remarks to an inconsistent formalone, which she described as an act of “self-sabot” of the League, comments the players in particular while the players remain blocked by the League office for a new collective agreement.

During a successful period of growth for WNBA – when players’ salary and the sustainability of the league are at the top of mine – necklaces maintains that negligence management has not only a negative impact on the well -being of players in terms of compensation, but the quality of fans of products, preventing sport from growing effectively. She even mentioned the young new superstars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and said that the League exploded the opportunity to capitalize on their emergence.

“The real threat to our league is not money. It is not notes or even missed calls or even a physical game,” said collar. “This is the lack of responsibility of the League office. Since I have been in the League, you have heard the constant concerns about the officer, and she has now reached levels of inconsistency that afflict our sport and undergo the integrity in which it operates. ”

Collar grievances

For example, Collier spoke of his memory of a private conversation with Engelbert, saying that the commissioner had rejected his concerns about the remuneration of players. The Lynx player said that she had struck conversations with the commissioner in an unrivaled championship match in February, asking why the young league stars like Bueckers, Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark earned so little money despite the growth of the League, and Engelbert replied: “Caitlin should be recognizing that she wins 16 million (dollars) The WNBA gives her, she would do nothing. ”

“We are the players, so we have the impression that we should simply get what we deserve and what people before we paved the way for the next generation,” said Bueckers Fortune last month. “While the game continues to grow, and the W continues to capitalize on our growth … We think we should simply get a piece of this pie.”

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Indiana fever coach Stephanie White was also fined for making public comments criticizing those responsible in the remarks defending Reeve. Necklace said on Tuesday that it disapproved of the way the league had distributed these fines.

“The ability of our leadership to (be) held responsible is to remove everyone’s voices by distributing fines,” she said. “I am not concerned about a fine. I am concerned about the future of our sport. ”

Disputes in progress on salary

WNBA players are being negotiated with the League for a collective agreement. The current agreement expires on October 31. Beyond wanting to increase the salary for players – the starting salary for a WNBA recruit breaks barely $ 75,000, while the maximum is about $ 25,000 – the athletes also expressed their desire to share income.

The players argued that they were not appropriately compensated as the Balls of the League in value and popularity. In June, Sporty Estimated that an WNBA team was worth an average of $ 269 million, an increase of 180% compared to 2024. The 13 teams earn about around $ 3.5 billion. The League announced on Tuesday an 11 -year agreement of $ 2.2 billion on media rights next season.

Engelbert said in a statement published on Tuesday that she had “the greatest respect for Napheesa Collier and for all WNBA players”.

“Together, we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My goal remains on the assurance of a bright future for players and WNBA, including collaboration on how we continue to raise the game.”

“I am discouraged by the way Napheesa characterized our conversations and our leadership of the League, but even when our prospects differ, my commitment to players and to this work will not vacillate,” she concluded.

These problems are not specific to the WNBA, because its affiliation league, the NBA, resisted controversies and arbitrary skirmishes on the remuneration of players for years. He is currently involved in undoubtedly his biggest financial scandal, as owner of Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft who is also the richest owner of the League, was recently accused of having bypassing the NBA salary by paying the star player Kawhi Leonard 28 million dollars for “non-presentation work”. In another notorious incident, former referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced to prison for plotting to repair the matches in a scandal that continues to shade the integrity of the NBA referee.

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