ESPN needs to take on tense topics in WNBA Finals coverage

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Napheesa Collier won’t be playing in the WNBA Finals starting tonight, but her shadow will be everywhere in Phoenix and Las Vegas. It was one thing for a player of Collier’s resume — perennial WNBA All-Star, successful start-up builder with Unrivaled and college champion at UConn — to complain about the state of her league. It is an entirely different proposition when such a player publicly calls out her sports league on multiple topics, concluding that the WNBA has the “worst leadership in the world.”

As part of that scorched-earth commentary, Collier said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told her this about viewership unicorn Caitlin Clark: “Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” (Engelbert responded in part in a statement: “I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.”)

Had Patrick Mahomes delivered such a commentary about NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, ESPN would likely create an additional hour of the day so they could have a 25-hour news cycle to discuss it. They would be right to do so, too. Tim Corrigan, the senior vice president of sports production for ESPN and the production point person for ESPN’s WNBA coverage, acknowledged the obvious significance of the story. He said he looks at it as something that needs to be discussed in the lead-up to games — and then you judge if it comes up during games based on the play.

“When you’re covering live events, it’s a story until something else happens beyond the court or the next possession,” Corrigan said. “It’s got to be on everybody’s mind going in for sure, but we’re not going to try to make this a bigger deal than it is if it doesn’t play out during the actual series.”

“I don’t think that we’re trying to shy away from talking about it,” said ESPN lead women’s basketball analyst Rebecca Lobo. “Ryan (Ruocco) talked about a lot of these topics on a podcast with Sue Bird. I’m willing to talk about this. I do think in-game, it can get a little bit tricky. Like, Game 5, for example, with the Fever-Aces. I am just about to talk about the fifth call on Aliyah Boston, which I didn’t think was a great foul. So I’m about to go there, and Kelsey Mitchell goes down, and the story is different. Unless it’s the exact right moment in a game, I don’t know that we’re going to have the time to give to a topic that deserves more than maybe a 10- or 15-second thought. None of us are shy about sharing our opinions, but I think during the game, it really is going to be dictated by the action.”

Corrigan said he’s never been asked by the league to avoid discussing the officiating or the commissioner.

The WNBA Finals’ attention will rightfully focus on A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelesea Gray and company returning to the finals for Las Vegas, and the Big Three (Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally and Kahleah Copper) of a gritty Mercury bunch. ESPN has a massive opportunity during this series to prove that it is more than simply a publicity arm for women’s basketball.

The goal for this year’s WNBA Finals coverage should be to morph discussion of what looks to be a great series with chunks of discussion about what Collier has brought to the forefront. What she highlighted is an issue that impacts the league well beyond this series, which begins at 8 p.m. (ET) Friday night in Las Vegas, airing on ESPN.

Here is the full ESPN TV schedule:

The league comes in with viewership momentum. ESPN said Game 5 of the Las Vegas-Indiana series averaged 1.8 million viewers, the most-watched semifinals game in 27 years. The 2025 semifinals were up 57 percent over last year, and the entire WNBA postseason at this point has averaged 1.1 million viewers, up 15 percent over last year.

The biggest change for ESPN/ABC this year is that the finals have expanded to a best-of-seven series. What will be the same is the longtime lead broadcast crew of Ruocco, Lobo and reporter Holly Rowe. Lead producer Ian Gruca and lead director Adam Bryant return in their positions. ESPN Deportes will provide exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the finals with Julia Headley on play-by-play and Antonio Rodríguez on the analysis.

“I love how Ryan, Rebecca and Holly feel their way through a game, and they’ve built this catalog of experiences that they’ve collectively had doing this,” Corrigan said. “I just can’t imagine a better group going in to call these games who are more prepared and more passionate about it.”

As for studio programming, “WNBA Countdown” will be on site from every game, with Elle Duncan hosting alongside Chiney Ogwumike and Andraya Carter. A one-hour pregame show will air before each game, offering more time for storytelling and features.

ESPN’s daily basketball show, “NBA Today,” will air from the WNBA Finals for the first time. ESPN’s Malika Andrews will host from the site, alongside Monica McNutt and Ogwumike. ESPN’s YouTube channel will offer a wrap-up show featuring Sam Ravech, Ari Chambers, Carolyn Peck, Taylor Tannebaum, Courtney Cronin and Maria Marino. The proximity between Las Vegas and Phoenix offers everyone much more convenience.

As for production elements, coverage will feature 20 cameras and the usual standards, such as in-game audio, end-of-quarter player interviews, and advanced tools, including a shallow depth-of-field camera, telestration and virtual graphics. For the first time, ESPN will debut 3-point shot distance technology for WNBA Finals coverage, allowing viewers to see the distance of attempts beyond 26 feet, similar to the technology used on ESPN’s NBA broadcasts.

“Whether it’s the men’s or the women’s game, it’s so impressive just how effortlessly these people shoot from that distance,” Corrigan said. “I hope it’s a reminder to people as they’re watching it, the next time you are near a court, go measure 26 feet from the basket and tell me how effortlessly for you it is to get the ball in the hoop. It’s so much farther than you think, and it speaks to the level of skill, strength and coordination that these professional athletes have.”

Corrigan did not name specific people who might find their way onto ESPN’s coverage. Diana Taurasi, with whom the company has a long relationship, given her career and broadcast work, would be an obvious choice.

“There’s a bunch of people that are under consideration, and of course, how could you not have Diana Taurasi under consideration,” Corrigan said. “We have so much respect for her, and we got to document her career from the moment she stepped on campus at Storrs (Conn.) all the way through her fabulous Hall of Fame professional career.”

Anyone who has viewed ESPN/ABC NFL Draft coverage in recent years knows you’ll find more softball being played during a Mike Greenberg interview of Goodell than at NYC’s Central Park on a summer Sunday. (We won’t even get into Fox Sports when it comes to questioning anything FIFA because that production might as well be an arm of the global soccer body.) The play on the court will sell itself.

Among other things, though, ESPN should effort to interview Englebert during the finals and press her on important subjects. The company deserves all the credit for helping grow the sport, but this is a moment when it can separate itself as a broadcast entity that covers the league.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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