WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert denies alleged statement saying Caitlin Clark should be ‘grateful’ to league for success

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed a conversation revealed by player Napheesa Collier, who alleged Engelbert said “[Caitlin Clark] 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 said at a press conference Friday she did not make those comments. 

“Obviously, I did not 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 to the game,” Engelbert said. 

Collier also alleged that Engelbert said, “Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.”

Engelbert addressed those alleged comments as well, claiming there have been a lot of “inaccuracies” reported in the media, but she did not explicitly deny making those comments as she did with the alleged Clark comments. 

“There’s a lot of innacuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert said. “A lot of reporting, a lot of innacuracy about what I say, what I didn’t say.”

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

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

“I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and that I personally do not care about them or listen to them,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night. 

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

The WNBA and its players’ union, the WNBPA, are in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

The players’ association and the WNBA agreed to an eight-year agreement in 2020, but last year the WNBPA voted to opt out of the agreement early. 

The current agreement is due to expire Oct. 31.