Minnesota Lynx Star Napheesa Collier Excoriates WNBA Commissioner In Seething 2025 Exit Interview

Minnesota Lynx star Forward Napheesa Collier drove hard to the basket on the WNBA league office during her 2025 exit interview on Tuesday. She pounded home points on a number of issues that have been top of mind with players league-wide and also with the league’s fans. Here is a look at the Lynx star’s statement.

Signaling Out WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

Collier took Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to task multiple times, mentioning conversations that the two had had over the course of the season. Engelbert’s takes on referee issues and player pay came off as cold, callous, and tone-deaf. The UConn alum said that the commissioner told her that “only the losers complain about the refs.”

She also passed along this Engelbert nugget when she asked about why stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers are making so little money on their first contracts: “Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”

Here is a look at the full statement via Underdog WNBA on X (Twitter):

Napheesa Collier’s full comments on Tuesday, via @adukeMN.pic.twitter.com/p2Av3tMm1T

— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) September 30, 2025

Bad Timing For the League

This is all coming at a bad time for the league. The WNBA Playoffs are in full swing, and the Finals start on October 3. The league just announced a big new 11-year expanded media rights deal with USA Network on Tuesday. This is not the media headache that the Engelbert and league officials wanted to be dealing with right now.

The league office, though, has brought all this on itself. Engelbert and company have failed to address the officiating and physicality issues all season long, and as Collier stated, it is hurting the product. Top stars like Clark, Bueckers, Reese, and others have dealt with injuries all season long. The ugly play and missed games have definitely hurt the league’s marketability, despite the league’s record-breaking ratings and attendance numbers this season.

League Sustainability

The statement also addressed league sustainability. The league has not made a profit in its nearly three-decade-long history. If the league wishes to operate in the black anytime soon, it will need players like those mentioned on the floor, not in street clothes. Collier said what so many players, coaches, and fans have been saying for more than a year. In making this statement publicly, hopefully, the Lynx star has forced Engelbert and the league to deal with the issues that they have been dodging for so long.