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Indiana fever The Caitlin Clark star was attracted to the controversy this week after WNBPA vice president, Naphesa Collier, said the commissioner of the Liga Cathy Engelbert said that the former Iowa star should be “grateful” by the platform that the league gives him during a conversation about salary concerns.
The accusations led the Clark teammate, Sophie Cunningham, to shoot again on social networks, calling Engelbert “the most delusional leader” in WNBA history.
In this photo of September 29, 2019, the WNBA Commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, speaks at a press conference before game 1 of the basketball WNBA between The Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Archive)
The controversy began this week when, on Tuesday, Collier read a statement in front of the members of the media that raised concerns about the “lack of responsibility of the League office.” In his comments, Collier recalled an alleged conversation with Engelbert, in which the commissioner made condescending comments regarding the players’ concerns.
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“I sat in front of Cathy and asked him how I planned to address the officiating problems in our league,” Collier said. “His answer was: ‘Well, only the losers complain about the referees.”
“I also asked how I planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin, Angel [Reese] and Paige [Bueckers]That they are clearly promoting massive income for the league, they are doing so little during their first four years. His answer was: “Caitlin should be grateful to win $ 16 million outside the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives it, it would do nothing.”
“And in that same conversation, she told me: ‘The players should be on your knees thanking their stars of luck for the agreement of the rights of the media that I got them.” That is the mentality that drives our league from the top. “
Caitlin Clark poses with the WNBA Cathy Engelbert commissioner after it is selected as the general selection number 1 by the Indiana fever in the 2024 WNBA draft in Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York, on April 15, 2024. (Brad Penner/USA Today Sports)
Naphesa Collier de Lynx against WNBA leadership, demands official changes
Engelbert’s alleged comments caused Febrera Sophie Cunningham, Who also had his season for the season due to an injury, to defend his teammate on social networks.
“People only meet Cathy for C … he is the most delusional leader that our league has seen,” Cunningham wrote in a comment on a publication on Instagram.
Clark has not publicly commented on Collier’s statement, but during the break of the stars last season, she and other players wore black t -shirts with a message that said “we paid what you owe us.”
The Indiana fever guard, Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts against Phoenix Mercury during a WNBA game at the PHX Arena on August 7, 2025. (Mark J. Rebila/images imagn)
The message was in support of the position of the players regarding compensation in the midst of continuous negotiations of the Collective Section Agreement (CBA). The Association of Players and the WNBA agreed an eight -year agreement in 2020, but last year the WNBPA voted to choose not to participate in the early agreement.
The current agreement must expire on October 31.
