Five-time All-Star Napheesa Collier put the league on blast on Tuesday, calling out WNBA leadership at-large and, more specifically, describing commissioner Cathy Engelbert as "negligent" among other criticisms the Minnesota Lynx star voiced in her now-viral 2025 season exit interview.
Reading from a four-minute-long prepared statement, Collier accused WNBA leadership of not taking officiating concerns seriously, ignoring compensation demands, and overworking players, amid other major issues.
"We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world," she said.
Collier describes "lack of accountability" from WNBA leadership
Amid ongoing CBA negotiations, Collier referenced her experience running Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball, with the offseason venture's co-founder saying, "If I didn't know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn't feel this way. But, unfortunately for [WNBA leadership], I do."
"You've heard the constant concerns about officiating, and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity in which it operates," Collier said. "Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage."
"The real threat to our league isn't money, it isn't ratings, or even missed calls, or even physical play. It's the lack of accountability from the league office," she added.
Collier also quoted a conversation she had with Engelbert earlier this year, alleging that the commissioner said Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark shouldn't take issue with her relatively paltry $76,535 rookie salary "because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything."
In response to Collier's remarks, Engelbert did not speak directly with reporters, with the league instead releasing a brief written statement shortly after the Lynx star's exit interview swept the internet.
"I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver," Engelbert wrote.
WNBA officiating is once again taking center stage, with multiple head coaches reportedly issued fines after criticizing referee conduct in the weekend's playoff action.
Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve earned an ejection and suspension for attempting to confront referees during the Lynx's Game 3 semifinals loss on Friday, with the WNBA later handing her a $15,000 fine for lambasting officials in her postgame interview.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worth is f—ing malpractice," Reeve told reporters last Friday.
Following Reeve's suspension, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon voiced public support for Reeve and her concerns, with sources saying they each received a $1,000 fine for their comments.
"[Reeve] made a lot of valid points," White said on Sunday. "A lot of the same kind of conversations are happening. It's happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach, from every player."
"From what I heard, she did not tell a lie," Hammon said of Reeve. "She said the truth. I think something has to change."
Officiating problems aren't new for the WNBA, but as the league's popularity explodes, refereeing disparities are now under an unprecedented spotlight.
"Every part of our league has gotten better, and that part has lagged behind, for whatever reason," White continued. "Oftentimes, it's infrastructure in terms of training, oftentimes, it's financial. And it's really investing in who we have as officials.... How do we keep them growing and getting better?"
The championship dreams of the injury-plagued Indiana Fever are still alive after the No. 6 seed held off the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces 90-83 in Sunday's Game 4, forcing a winner-take-all decider in the 2025 WNBA semifinals.
Following an 84-72 Game 3 loss that saw Indiana fall behind 2-1 in the best-of-five series last Friday, Fever center Aliyah Boston and guard Kelsey Mitchell stepped up on Sunday, putting up a combined 49 of Indiana's 90 points.
"The desperation and the urgency that we play with when we're in those positions has been exactly what we need," Fever head coach Stephanie White said postgame.
As for Las Vegas, the fired-up Aces expressed frustration after Sunday's upset loss, with officiating issues continuing to take center stage throughout the 2025 WNBA postseason.
"[Indiana] shot 34 free throws, and we shot 11," Aces head coach Becky Hammon told reporters, with game-leading scorer A'ja Wilson adding that Boston alone shot 13 free throws — more than Las Vegas's entire team.
"I did appreciate it was a little tighter call, but tighter on both ends would have been nice," continued Hammon.
How to watch Indiana vs. Las Vegas in Game 5 of the semifinals
The No. 2 Aces and No. 6 Fever will close out the 2025 WNBA semifinals with a high-stakes Game 5 clash in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The action tips off at 9:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on ESPN2.
Minnesota competed without their sideline leader in Sunday's 86-81 Game 4 semifinals loss, as the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury ousted the No. 1 Lynx while head coach Cheryl Reeve served a one-game suspension following her ejection from Friday's Game 3.
In the dying seconds of Friday's 84-76 loss, a collision caused Minnesota star Napheesa Collier to collapse with an ankle injury.
In reaction, Reeve ran onto the court as her staff worked to restrain her, earning the Lynx boss her second technical foul of the game for confronting the officials.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it's f—ing malpractice," Reeve said after the game.
In a Saturday statement, the league said that Reeve's suspension stemmed from "aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, [and] failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection," as well as "inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a post-game press conference."
Officiating has been under fire throughout the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, with coaches like Golden State Valkyries' boss Natalie Nakase and Las Vegas Aces leader Becky Hammon expressing concerns about the quality and consistency of postseason calls.
"If this is what the league wants, okay, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating," said Reeve.
With support from the National Basketball Referees Association, the three-person officiating crew from Friday's Game 3 in Minnesota also oversaw Sunday's Game 4 between the No. 2 Aces and No. 6 Fever in Indiana.
The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces reclaimed their contender status in Game 2 on Tuesday night, taking down the No. 6 Indiana Fever in a 90-68 blowout victory to tie their best-of-five 2025 WNBA semifinals at 1-1.
Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson fueled the Aces' bounce-back performance with 25 points and nine rebounds, backed by 10 points apiece from reserves Jewell Loyd and Dana Evans.
"I just think we came to work," Wilson said following the win. "We didn't come to work in Game 1, and that's on all of us. I think Game 2, we just decided to come to work."
Physicality on the court — as well as the referees' response to it — has played a major role in the Aces vs. Fever series, with Las Vegas clearly upping the intensity to keep Indiana at bay on Tuesday.
"It's playoffs — very physical games," said Aces forward NaLyssa Smith afterwards. "I feel like we've got to match the energy, day in and day out."
"It's hard for us to find flow when there's a foul called every 10 seconds," Fever head coach Stephanie White lamented. "When they're at the free throw line, we can't get up and down the floor, and that's a challenge."
How to watch the Las Vegas Aces vs. Indiana Fever in Game 3
The 2025 WNBA semifinals next travels to Indiana for Game 3, with the No. 6 Fever hosting the No. 2 Aces at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on ESPN2.
The Indiana Fever advanced to the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup championship on Tuesday night, clinching their franchise-first Cup final berth following a tense battle with the Connecticut Sun that saw three ejections and two flagrant fouls.
In the game's first half, Sun guard Jacy Sheldon committed a Flagrant 1 on Fever guard Caitlin Clark, with Sheldon and teammate Marina Mabrey receiving a pair of technicals for shoving after the call.
With Indiana dominating late in the matchup, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham committed a Flagrant 2 on Sheldon, spurring a scuffle that ended with Cunningham, Sheldon, and Sun guard Lindsey Allen all being ejected.
The rest of Tuesday's Commissioner's Cup action played out mostly as expected, with New York securing an 86-81 comeback victory over the Atlanta Dream. However, because of the Fever's victory, the Liberty fell just short of returning to the Cup final.
The Minnesota Lynx also launched a comeback to take down Las Vegas 76-62, successfully punching their ticket to defend their 2024 Cup title — despite star forward Napheesa Collier exiting the showdown with an apparent back injury.
Ultimately, while on-court performances should have driven the narrative, lack of referee control overshadowed the night.
"Everyone is getting better but the officials," Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the Fever's win. "We need to remedy that. I mean, we've heard every coach talk about it. I don't know what the answer is."
How to watch the WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship
The grand finale of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup between the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx will tip off at 8 PM ET on July 1st, with live coverage on Prime.
The Golden State Valkyries are flying high, following up last weekend's blowout win over the Las Vegas Aces with an 89-81 overtime victory against the LA Sparks on Monday, pushing the 2025 expansion side to an early season record of 4-5.
Five Valkyries scored in the double digits on Monday night, with forward Janelle Salaün's team-leading 21 points contributing to the team's 11-3 overtime advantage.
The first-ever WNBA team to average more than 18,000 fans through their first three home games, Golden State has already made an outsized mark on league culture — but the Valks' on-court product is also trending ahead of schedule.
"We could tell in both the third and fourth quarter, they had each others back," head coach Natalie Nakase said after the win. "That's what we’re trying to do. We got to continue to rely on each other and hold each other accountable, so that was really cool to see."
Monday's results boosted Golden State to eighth place in the WNBA standings, while a skidding 10th-place Los Angeles side struggles to find their form.
Sparks guard Kelsey Plum, who led LA with 24 points on Monday night, expressed her frustration with the game's officials, saying "I'm going to get fined for saying this… they're fouling the s—t out of me every single play."
How to watch upcoming WNBA games
While Golden State doesn't return to the court until Saturday, the Valkyries' last two victims — the Las Vegas Aces and Los Angeles Sparks — will square off at 10 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on CBS Sports.