WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert denied comments that she purportedly made to Minnesota Lynx star forward Napheesa Collier regarding Indiana Fever star point guard Caitlin Clark.
“Obviously I did not make those comments,” Engelbert told reporters Friday. “Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game, she’s brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game.”
Collier called out Engelbert during her exit interview on Tuesday and brought up Clark in her comments.
“I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like [Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years,” Collier said, via ESPN’s Myron Medcalf. “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.'”
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham fired back at the purported remarks about Clark on Wednesday, writing “people only know Cathy because of [Clark]” in an Instagram comment.
On Thursday, Clark told reporters that Collier “said it all” and explained that she “made a lot of valid points” in her statement addressing Engelbert and the WNBA amid ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the WNBPA.
While Clark has continued to gain popularity throughout her two seasons on the Fever, she was blossoming into a star well before she was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.
She helped Iowa advance to the women’s national championship game twice in her four years at the school, with the Hawkeyes’ 2024 title game defeat against South Carolina representing the most-watched women’s college basketball game in history with an average of 18.9 million viewers.
Clark also ended her tenure at Iowa with a final NIL valuation of $3.4 million, via On3.com. This included deals with companies such as Nike, State Farm and Topps.
Still, Engelbert rejected the validity of her alleged conversation with Collier surrounding Clark.
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