The last 15 days of the WNBA have been no less than a soap opera. The coach who won the title last year was fired (Sandy Brondello), along with a couple of others. Kelsey Mitchell went through a life-threatening situation, and Cheryl Reeve incurred a $15,000 fine. And if these weren’t enough, Napheesa Collier launched a direct attack at Cathy Engelbert, questioning the WNBA leadership on more than one issue. Collier was pretty direct in her remarks, but it seems the Game 3 injury had little to do with it. 

‘[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,’ Engelbert allegedly said. While that was denied by the Commissioner, she did not do the same for this statement: “Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them,” Collier revealed that Engelbert said. And what if we tell you this entire press conference was planned months back? At least that’s what ESPN claims, too.

“The general message she planned to deliver had been on her mind for months, sources say, ever since a meeting seven months ago in Miami.” The recent ESPN report “Napheesa Collier, Cathy Engelbert and a WNBA teetering on the brink” mentioned. Let’s roll back to seven months in the basketball calendar to March 2025. Collier’s co-founded Unrivaled had its inaugural season that ended on March 17. It was a resounding success at Wayfair Arena in Miami, Florida, that the WNBA too was questioned if Unrivaled can, why not you? 

Unrivaled had an 221,000 average viewers on TNT and truTV simulcast coverage for the entire season, including playoffs, while finishing the season with 11.9 million total viewers reached. Collier, being the co-founder along with Breanna Stewart, was in the thick of things. They were already in meetings with Engelbert regarding a potential WNBA investment in Unrivaled. “We went to the WNBA early,” Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell recently told FOS.

The newly formed league’s president continued, “Number one, told them about it and were certainly open to a partnership in terms of equity and ownership. It’s really, to draw the comparison, like what’s gone on between the TGL and the PGA. That’s how we looked at it and approached it. We would be the majority investors in control, but they still have upside and skin in the game with women’s basketball year-round. They chose not to do that.”

As the WNBA denied investing in Collier’s league, Collier reportedly decided to send some sort of message against the Commissioner at the same time, again, allegedly. Now that could draw up some conspiracy theories regarding Collier’s conflict of interest because the 7-month frame is close to her claim, “This past February, I sat across from [Engelbert] and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league.” So it is natural that if the meeting hadn’t gone well, something was expected to come.

However, there is not enough evidence to prove any correlation between Collier’s statement and the WNBA’s denial to invest in Unrivaled. The league is doing well regardless, recently closing a series B investment round valuing the league at $340 million. However, that theory is not going away, with multiple ESPN sources citing the concern.

Napheesa Collier’s double role under heat

We have established that Unrivaled is doing too well for the WNBA’s comfort. They are even expanding to 2 new teams, 2026 onward, while distributing salaries more than twice that of the WNBA, in addition to the equity. There’s no question that the Unrivaled is a threat to the WNBA despite being a different format of basketball. They can just as easily expand to 5 v 5 basketball. But is Napheesa Collier killing the WNBA to continue the Unrivaled progress? There are a few reported news items that strike red flags in that sense. 

“Collier would do this alone: There was no communication or coordination with the players’ association, for which Collier served as vice president, sources say,” said the ESPN report. Many assumed Collier took a united stance for the players she represents as a president. And because of her position, it was taken as a collective opinion. Rightly so, as no player went against Collier after she made the statements.

However, it’s difficult to go against the wind in public, and there could be players and representatives who didn’t agree to every Collier statement, but she went ahead regardless. “It’s a total conflict of interest,” another league source said. “[Collier’s] husband runs the league that’s in competition with the W, and she has equity in it.”

If you go by the looks of it, the duo’s offer to the WNBA for investment says that they aren’t competitors. Collier has even fired back at these accusations before. “So let me get this straight… While everyone else was enjoying fireworks, you were thinking about how me and & Stewie of all people are conspiring to force a lockout that would result in less money year-round for WNBA players??” Collier wrote on X in early July. Unrivaled’s intention was never to become a WNBA competitor, even Alex Bazzell has said the same. 

If the league’s new CBA proposal boosts salaries but bans or restricts offseason play in other leagues, Collier’s position gets tricky. With her and Stewart at the negotiating table and steering Unrivaled, the two stars would almost certainly shoot it down. Another scenario, if the WNBA actually offers $3 million per year for the biggest stars, which they deserve.

(A recent report from Athletic calculated) They could avoid any offseason basketball altogether, reducing Unrivaled’s brand value and attraction. See the conflict here? However, the players don’t think the same (based on public statements). And if they feel she is the person to represent their interests, you can’t argue much beyond that.