Napheesa Collier cancels meeting with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert amid public spat, per report

After publicly calling out WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier was slated to meet with Engelbert next week to discuss her grievances. However, according to a report from ESPN, Collier has canceled the meeting due to the latest remarks from Engelbert.

During her exit interview with the Lynx, Collier took a blowtorch to Engelbert on a range of topics from CBA negotiations to officiating. Collier went so far as to say the WNBA has “the worst leadership in the world.”

As part of her lengthy rant against Engelbert, Collier alleged that the WNBA commissioner told her superstar Caitlin Clark should be “grateful” for the platform the league gives her, which allows her to make millions in endorsements.

Prior to Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Engelbert denied saying that and said there were a lot of “inaccuracies” in Collier’s speech. According to the ESPN report, that response “pretty much pushed the relationship beyond repair” as far as Collier was concerned.

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Jack Maloney

Engelbert was adamant in denying Collier’s characterization of the conversation, and she implied that the Lynx star got a number of other things wrong in her tirade against WNBA leadership.

“Obviously, I did not make those comments,” Engelbert said. “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 to the game, proud of what she’s put on the court, unfortunately, the injuries held her back from a full season this year. 


“But again, I’m not going to get into every point counterpoint, it’s not productive here. We’re here to celebrate the WNBA Finals. I think what Indiana just did was amazing with all the injuries they had, and everything they faced this year and bringing that to a Game 5 and overtime. But yeah, as I said, there’s a lot of inaccuracies reported out there, and I certainly did not say that.”

Engelbert said she was “disheartened” to hear that players in the league don’t trust her and the league to look out for their best interests. Engelbert added that she has “to do better” moving forward.