WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed a conversation revealed by player Napheesa Collier, who alleged Engelbert said “[Caitlin Clark] needs to 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 didn’t make those comments.
“Obviously, I didn’t make those comments. Caitlin has been a transformational player on this league. She’s been a terrific representative of the sport. She’s brought in tens of hundreds of thousands of latest fans to the sport,” Engelbert said.
Collier also alleged that Engelbert said, “Players needs to 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 lots of “inaccuracies” reported within the media, but she didn’t explicitly deny making those comments as she did with the alleged Clark comments.
“There’s lots of innacuracy on the market through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert said. “A variety of reporting, lots of innacuracy about what I say, what I didn’t say.”
Engelbert later said, “I’m disheartened. I’m a human too. I actually have a family. I actually have two kids who’re devastated by these comments. So, all I say is that it’s obviously been a troublesome week, and I just think there’s lots of innacuracy on the market.”
Still, Engelbert acknowledged that if players don’t feel “appreciated” then she has to do higher.
“I used to be disheartened to listen to that some players feel the league and that I personally don’t care about them or hearken to them,” Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals Friday night.
“If the players within the ‘W’ don’t feel appreciated and value from the league, now we have to do higher, and I actually have to do higher.”
The WNBA and its players’ union, the WNBPA, are in negotiations for a brand new collective bargaining agreement.
The players’ association and the WNBA agreed to an eight-year agreement in 2020, but last 12 months the WNBPA voted to opt out of the agreement early.
The present agreement is resulting from expire Oct. 31.
