LAS VEGAS -- A host of WNBA players leaguewide showed support for Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier after she ripped WNBA leadership in her exit interview Tuesday.
"I think I agree with everything [Collier] said," said Lexie Hull, the Fever's alternate player rep for the WNBPA, prior to Indiana's winner-take-all Game 5 semifinal matchup against the Las Vegas Aces. "We're at a really important time in the league and changes need to be made, and so you're seeing her talk about that, and really proud of her for making that statement today."
Collier shook the sports world on Tuesday when she accused league commissioner Cathy Engelbert of being "negligent" in her governance.
"We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world," Collier said in her lengthy remarks, "but right now we have the worst leadership in the world."
Collier came in second in MVP voting this year. In addition to serving as a vice president of the WNBPA, she and Breanna Stewart co-founded and launched Unrivaled last year, a 3-on-3 women's basketball league that operates during the WNBA offseason.
"Napheesa Collier is an outstanding leader and Officer of this Union," the WNBPA said in a statement. "When Phee speaks, people listen. We are confident that her words today speak to the feelings and experiences of many, if not most or all of our members. The leaders of the league and its teams would benefit from listening to her powerful statement. The players know their value even if the league does not. They are fighting for their legacy and the future of basketball."
Added Fever coach Stephanie White, a former WNBA player and longtime coach in the league: "I have a lot of respect for Phee.... I'm thankful that we have strong women that are willing to say the things that matter and say the things that will move the needle for change."
Several other WNBA players voiced their support for Collier on social media.
"10/10. No notes!" Chicago Sky star Angel Reese posted on X.
"@PHEEsespieces thank you for your bravery!!!!!!!!" Los Angeles Sparks standout Dearica Hamby added.
Two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne posted about Collier in her Instagram story, adding: "It's the care for the human part for me. I'm still not sure if Cathy knows I retired. Heard from everyone but her."
In Collier's remarks, she also alleged that Engelbert told her that Caitlin 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."
The Fever said Clark has no comment about that statement.
Clark's Fever teammate Sophie Cunningham later commented on Instagram, "people only know Cathy because of [Caitlin]... She's the most delusional leader our league has seen. ... AND IT SHOULDN'T EVER BE ABOUT OUR COMMISSIONER IN THE FIRST PLACE."
The criticism toward the league also comes on the backdrop of player frustration with the state of CBA negotiations, as the current agreement is set to expire at the end of October. Chelsea Gray, the Aces' primary player rep, said Tuesday that the status of talks is "not great, not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time."
The central tension in negotiations, according to Hull and Gray, is that players feel the league is not willing to compensate them "for what we feel like we're bringing" to the WNBA in this massive month of growth. Gray added, "It's market share, it's salaries, it's player safety, it's everything. I wouldn't say that we're where we want to be for maybe one thing."
"We have a lot of work to do," the veteran guard continued, "more so on the W side and with Cathy, and understanding our value as a league, as players, and there's no league without the players."
Added Hull: "We're growing exponentially, and we need change to mirror that. And I think where the players see the league going is different than where leadership sees the league going, and somehow we need to see that align, and I think the CBA negotiations will hopefully get us there."