AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The WNBA Finals begin tomorrow night. But now, there's a bigger conflict brewing in the league. Concerns simmering all season long boiled over this week when a star player held a press conference to criticize the league's commissioner. NPR's Becky Sullivan reports.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Napheesa Collier sat down at the microphone, her foot in a boot after an injury in her last game of the season.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NAPHEESA COLLIER: Sorry, I had to walk here in my boot. I'm kind of out of breath.
SULLIVAN: Collier is a five-time WNBA All Star, MVP runner-up two years straight. She's the vice president of the players' union, and overall, one of the most respected players in the league. So her remarks Tuesday turned a lot of heads.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COLLIER: We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.
SULLIVAN: For four straight minutes, Collier blasted the WNBA's leadership, especially commissioner Cathy Engelbert. In private conversations, Collier said Engelbert told her that star players with big fan bases, like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, should feel grateful for the platform that the WNBA gives them, even as their rookie contracts pay them only about $80,000 per year. And the commissioner dismissed her concerns about referees, Collier said, telling her that only losers complain about the refs.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
COLLIER: Just hearing over and over and over again, we have the best refs in the world. We don't have a problem. You know, none of the injuries are due to physicality and the way that we're reffing - it's an insult to my intelligence, honestly.
SULLIVAN: The reason Collier gave this statement wearing a walker boot is because she just hurt her ankle during the playoff series between the Minnesota Lynx, her team, and the Phoenix Mercury.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: Collier gets it back, but Alyssa Thomas picks her pocket.
SULLIVAN: Game 3 had been physical and tough all game long. With just 24 seconds to go and the score close, a Mercury player stole the ball in a collision with Collier, who fell to the ground and immediately began slapping the floor in pain. There was no foul call.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: And Phee still on the floor.
SULLIVAN: Collier had to be helped to the locker room. Reportedly, she tore a few ligaments in her ankle. Afterward, her coach, Cheryl Reeve, let it fly.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHERYL REEVE: When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt. There's fights.
SULLIVAN: Speaking with a frustration that seems to have built up over the course of the whole season, Reeve excoriated the referees for allowing so much contact that ultimately, she felt, the gameplay had become dangerously physical and aggressive.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
REEVE: And so if this is what our league wants, OK. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating. It's bad for the game.
SULLIVAN: These critical words about league leadership come as the WNBA is maybe the biggest success story in all of sports right now. There has been a big boom in attendance and ratings over the past two seasons. New broadcasting deals are bringing in record revenue. Team values are at an all-time high, and the league is expanding, adding new teams. As commissioner, Engelbert has overseen all of that. But these questions about referees and physicality and injuries have been brewing for months, even years. It came up at a press conference with her back in July.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CATHY ENGELBERT: We hear the concerns. We take that input. Every play is reviewed. We spend hours and hours and hours. Obviously we use that then to follow up with officials, training.
SULLIVAN: NPR reached out to the WNBA for comment on this story. The league referred us to the brief statement that Engelbert put out on Tuesday in which she said she was disheartened by Collier's remarks, but that she had utmost respect for WNBA players and an unwavering commitment to the future of them and the league. That future, players argue, can only exist when they are healthy.
The superstar Caitlin Clark helped drive that explosion of interest in the WNBA last year. This season, injuries caused her to miss 70% of the Indiana Fever's regular season games and her team's entire playoff run. At a press conference today, Clark said she thought Collier's points were valid.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CAITLIN CLARK: You know, I think what people need to understand, you know, we need great leadership in this time across all levels. This is straight up the most important moment in this league's history. Well, this league's been around for 25-plus years, and this is a moment we have to capitalize on.
SULLIVAN: There is a risk that the WNBA's historic momentum could come to a screeching halt. The players' union contract is set to expire at the end of this month. With the league bringing in more revenue than ever, the players want more money. Collier and Engelbert will be sitting across from each other at the negotiating table. If the two sides can't reach an agreement by next spring, the league could face a lockout.
Becky Sullivan, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
