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Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier celebrated her 29th birthday last week. The Phoenix Mercury spoiled her celebration by beating the Lynx to set up a defining final game and leaving Collier writhing on the floor after a controversial no-call in a strip by Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas.

After the game, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, the longest-running head coach in the W, launched a profanity-laced tirade slamming the league’s ineptitude and what she called incompetent refs. That earned her an ejection and a one-game suspension, where the Mercury wrapped up the series, beating the Lynx 81-86 and heading to the WNBA Finals. Reeve was also assessed a $15,000 fine.

Collier didn’t play in Game 4 due to an ankle injury but attended in a walking boot to support her teammates.

Tuesday, on the eve of the Las Vegas Aces vs. the Indiana Fever close-out game to determine who goes to the Finals, and just hours after the WNBA announced an additional 11-year media rights deal with Versant to air games on USA Network, Collier had had enough.

The vice president of the league’s players’ association and co-founder of Unrivaled, the 3×3 league that plays in the WNBA off-season, read from a prepared statement blasting the league and its leadership during the team’s final interviews for the 2024-25 season.

“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,” Collier said, adding that her comments weren’t prompted by winning or losing.

“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, “Since I’ve been in the league, you’ve heard the constant concerns about officiating, and it’s not reached the levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity in which it operates. Whether the league cares about the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage.”

Collier also shared that in conversations with Englebert, when she asked about why the league won’t raise salaries for players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Beuckers, who are driving revenue, Englebert told her that Clark should be grateful to earn $16 million off the court because of the platform provided by the WNBA.

Collier says Englebert also said, “Players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.”

The WNBA has grown exponentially in recent years, particularly since LSU and its star Angel Reese beat Iowa and its star Caitlin Clark in the 2023 national championship. Clark’s ascension after becoming the top leading scorer in Division 1 basketball helped drive renewed interest in the W, especially after the Indiana Fever selected her with the top pick.

Reese had more social media followers coming into the league than Clark and the WNBA itself, also bringing her fanbase to the league when selected by the Chicago Sky with the seventh pick. Clark has been injured for most of the 2025 season, but Indiana is a game away from the Finals without her.

The players will need to renegotiate a new collective bargaining agreement after the current one ends on Oct. 31. At issue is revenue sharing, which in the NBA is up to 51%. In the W, it’s 9%. Salaries and expanded rosters are also going to be part of the agenda as the league has experienced several injuries to its top stars, including New York’s Breanna Stewart, Reese, Golden State’s Kayla Thornton and Lynx star, DiJonai Carrington.

The WNBA said recently that there is no data to support missed calls leading to injuries. Collier characterized the report as an “insult to my intelligence.” WNBA refs may be among the least skilled in professional basketball, as all aspiring refs have to start in the NBA’s G League and most see it as a pathway to the NBA, which pays much more.

“We go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn’t value us,” Collier said. “The league believes it succeeds despite its players, not because of them.”

Englebert quickly released a statement pledging her support to the players and the league.

“I have the utmost respect for Napheesa Collier and for all the players in the WNBA,” she said in a statement provided to the media. “Together, we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game. 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.”

See how social media is reacting to the fiery moment below.