MINNEAPOLIS — Napheesa Collier’s intention was to ensure players’ voices were heard when she took the podium for her exit interview at the end of last season.
Looking back now, she considers her mission a success.
Collier blasted WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert as “the worst leadership in the world” during a nearly 4 ¹/₂-minute statement.
Collier’s condemnation seemed to be a watershed moment regarding Engelbert’s future.
There had been preceding whispers regarding Engelbert’s lack of relationship with star players. Sabrina Ionescu months earlier had said she had a better relationship with NBA commissioner Adam Silver than his W counterpart.
But Collier’s powerful words cut like a knife and created wounds too deep to heal.
The Lynx star and Women’s National Basketball Players Association first vice president became the face of the resistance.
“I really started paying attention to Phee as a trailblazer when she went into the presser that one day and had a little speech and it kind of went viral,” Olivia Miles recalled Friday before the Liberty’s 93-81 win over the Lynx. “I had known the fight, but I didn’t realize how intentional and how impactful it had to be to really make change and she was one of the first people who kind of spoke up at the time and it was really, really cool.”
The WNBA announced Sept. 4 that Engelbert would be retiring at the end of this year after seven years at the helm. She helped navigate the league through a global pandemic that threatened the stability of even the most established men’s professional sports leagues. She was at the bargaining table for two transformational CBAs.
“Being commissioner of a league that is growing immensely year by year has to be a tough job but she deserves her flowers,” Breanna Stewart said. “Especially with the incredible CBA that we’ve been able to accomplish, she was a part of that, too, and I think sometimes people forget that. But she was dealt a tough hand and she continued to do really well with it.”
Engelbert was far from perfect, as highlighted by Collier’s fiery words.
The question is who will take the baton from the league’s embattled top boss?
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has already started the process to uncover that answer.
Stewart and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve hope Silver loops in WNBA stakeholders, including players, into the search process.
“We don’t need to be the ones being, like, yes or no or whatever,” Stewart said, “but we are in a partnership.”
Collier said she would like Engelbert’s successor to have a sports background, but Reeve doesn’t believe that should necessarily be a prerequisite.
“It’s really obvious that the first order of business is there’s a lot … in terms of what a commissioner does, and all the people that the commissioner is going to have to not please but to be able to have relationships with every faction,” Reeve said. “It has to be somebody that has an understanding that how you treat people matters and so that interaction that you have, you can be about business. You can do what you need to do, you can make hard decisions. It’s not unlike when a coach is making hard decisions, it’s not unlike when we go through tough times with our team, it’s all in how you handle it. Communication is usually at the heart of that.”
Reeve also said the next commissioner needs to have a pulse on the climate surrounding women’s sports. Finding better ways to protect athletes from online harassment will be one of the top tasks awaiting the league’s next top boss.
“Understanding the climate, you know, that’s big,” Reeve continued. “Has nothing to do with business or basketball per se but the overall health of our players, physically and mentally, there’s a lot. There’s a lot there. And continuing to capitalize on this time in our league financially and keep it moving forward. I mean, what do we do now after expansion in 2030? What’s the next phase of this? And again, look no further than the past, the NBA successes and trials and tribulations, it’s all going to be what’s ahead for us.”
