“Obviously, I did not make those comments. Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She’s been a great representative of the game,” said Cathy Engelbert, in her defense, during a recent presser. It’s been over 3 days now since Napheesa Collier’s exit interview, and its aftermath, became a major topic of discussion amongst WNBA fans. After all, the Lynx star not only dropped some major criticism against the WNBA commissioner, but also revealed that Engelbert allegedly said that Caitlin Clark should be grateful for her off court earnings “because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” Even though Engelbert denied making this claim, it doesn’t help that she said something along the same lines sometime ago.

Back in February 2024, Cathy Engelbert was honored by being selected for the annual ‘CNBC Changemakers: Women Transforming Business’ list. In April, she was interviewed by a CNBC host as part of the honor. During the discussion, Engelbert discussed the pay gap between female and male basketball players by using Clark as an example. The commissioner added that, “Caitlin has the ability to make $500,000, half a million just in WNBA wages this year”. Therefore, a contract was being formed for Clark, bearing in mind that she wasn’t just getting her earnings from the games she plays.

“She’ll make a little bit more than that, but she also has millions and millions of dollars coming in from endorsements. She’s actually…. because she declared to become pro, her endorsements are higher in dollar value,” said Engelbert. “She has a global platform now, not just a US platform. So, she’s going to do just fine, as will the top players in the league.”

This whole controversy has emerged amidst the WNBA players’ fight for higher pay. After all, even Caitlin Clark, who was selected 1st overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft, currently plays under a 4-year, $338,056 contract, averaging about $84,514 a year. In comparison, Ariel Hukporti, the 58th pick at the 2024 NBA Draft, signed a 2-year, $5.745 million contract, making his average pay $2,872,666. Therefore, the Indiana Fever star joined the other players in donning the ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’ T-shirts.

In light of this issue, it fell upon the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) to negotiate higher pay. During her exit interview, Napheesa Collier, the vice president of WNBPA, mentioned Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers to highlight the impact players like them can have on the league’s revenue. It is at that point when Cathy Engelbert allegedly made that controversial remark.

There is no denying that Clark has benefited a lot from her popularity and stardom as an exceptional player. If she boasts a $10 million net worth, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth, it is thanks to the $3.1 million she earned in NIL (name, image and likeness) deals in college, through the 8-year, $28 million deal she signed with Nike that pays her $3.5 million per year, and multiyear endorsement deals with sporting goods maker Wilson. However, her situation is not indicative of the rest of the league. The WNBA commissioner allegedly used Clark’s endorsements to deny a pay raise for all players, and she did the same in the CNBC interview.

The WNBA commissioner was already facing flak for allowing too much physicality in games. Now, Napheesa Collier’s remarks have made her more unpopular. Despite that, from the looks of it, the player is not going anywhere.

Cathy Engelbert Reveals She Does Not Intend To Resign Amid Alleged Remarks About Caitlin Clark

The last few days have seen players and analysts openly come out against the WNBA Commissioner. Sophie Cunningham, Caitlin Clark’s teammate, took to Instagram after Collier’s comments went viral and wrote, “people only know Cathy because of C…. She’s the most delusional leader our league has seen.”

Furthermore, renowned ESPN sportscaster Stephen A. Smith recently went viral for saying, “Let me say for the record: you should resign. When a player — any player — but especially one of that magnitude attacks you publicly like that, that weak a-s statement that Commissioner Engelbert gave is not good enough.”

However, the commissioner has not let this criticism get to her. During the presser held ahead of Game 1, Engelbert was asked if she believed she was the right person to lead the negotiations. The commissioner replied,

“Obviously, I’ve never been a quitter. I’m entering my 40th year, actually, this month in business. I’ve never been a quitter, never shied away from tough situations. I think leadership, the cream always rises to the top and I’ve always been someone who believes in the fact that we have, if there’s things we need to fix, we’re going to fix ’em. If there’s things the players have a perspective on that they don’t like that we’re doing or I’m doing, we’ll fix”.

Before the presser, a report by The Sports Business Journal claimed Engelbert would resign once negotiations were concluded. The action would be taken amid concerns that she is unable to connect with her players. However, the league says such suggestions were ‘categorically false’. That still did not stop fans from expressing their displeasure. All one needs to do is go on X to find comments like “Time for a new commissioner” and “Cathy is so full of s–t” to realize how unpopular a figure she has become with fans.