Yesterday the WNBA was absolutely clowned on by one of their star players Napheesa Collier. While the WNBA is still subsidized by the NBA I do not think it is crazy to say they have moved in the right direction the last two years with Caitlin Clark really onboarding countless new fans. Typically the news coming out of the WNBA from players over the state of the league as well.... I mean they want more but this time that was not the case.
Being one of the biggest names and most important players in the league (though she might not being well known with fan compared to Clark, Reese, etc. she does carry a ton of weight with the players for her experience and leadership) it was not surprising to hear that she had conversations with the WNBA Commissioner Engelbert. However, I dont think anyone would have imagined how terrible those talks would go. Basic questions were asked and the responses were.... wild to say the least.
In these talks Collier brought up the terrible officiating in the WNBA (I dont even watch basketball but videos that would pop up on social media blew my mind) and the Engelbert just really sidestepped the issue saying only losers complain about the refs. The most public and wild part of the conversation dealt with the new stars in the league who are bring in so many new fan and what would be done to help compensate.... The response
"Her response was, '[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.' And in that same conversation, she told me, 'Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.'"
With an already tense collective bargaining situation unfolding it will be very very interesting to see how the WNBA handles this. I would not blame the league if the ended up moving to fire Commissioner Engelbert due to the serious damage she has caused the league PR wise.
The 3 on 3 league Unrivaled has been brought up as a competitor for the WNBA. However, not only is the league young and not large enough to take care of all the WNBA players in case of a lock out but the league only brought in $30 million in revenue last year while it had a $8 million salary pool and paid for housing, facilities, etc.. I dont see it ever replacing the WNBA rather it might become the WNBA version of BIG3.