Inside WNBA players' rocky relationship with Cathy Engelbert

"NNEKA OGWUMIKE HEARD about Napheesa Collier's exit interview before she saw it. She was at home when her phone buzzed from a text message barrage, player after player asking if she had seen Collier's statement. Ogwumike didn't know what everyone was talking about. A quick search on social media filled her in. Collier had spent four minutes criticizing WNBA leadership in general and commissioner Cathy Engelbert in particular."

"'My initial thoughts were, 'I agree,' said Ogwumike, president of the WNBA players union. 'And that I was proud to be part of this union and with players like Phee who display their leadership.' She sent Collier a congratulatory text. The response from other WNBA players was swift and decisive. Post after post praised Collier. 'Phee speaks for me,' Elizabeth Williams, a member of the union's executive committee, told ESPN."

Napheesa Collier delivered a blunt exit interview criticizing WNBA leadership and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, describing the leadership as 'the worst in the world' and noting Engelbert's lack of relationships with players. Players across the league immediately rallied behind Collier, with union president Nneka Ogwumike and executive committee members praising her and signaling solidarity. The incident underscores an erosion of trust between players and Engelbert. Engelbert became the league's first commissioner in May 2019 and presided over significant league growth and a collective bargaining agreement, but tensions and moments of turmoil have periodically emerged under her tenure.

Read at ESPN.com