WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert addresses Napheesa Collier comments, says she was 'disheartened' by scathing statement

Three days after one of her star players publicly called her out, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert admitted that she and the league need to improve. In a press conference ahead of the WNBA finals on Friday, Engelbert said that she was "disheartened" by the scathing comments from Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, but that she welcomed "difficult but necessary conversations."

"I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and me personally do not care about them or listen to them. And if the players in the W don't feel appreciated and valued by the league, then we have to do better and I have to do better," Engelbert said. "No one should ever doubt how deeply I feel about this league, this game and every single player who make the WNBA what it is."

Engelbert said Friday that it's been difficult for her in the wake of Collier's comments, which directly pointed to Engelbert at the center of the problem.

"I'm a human too, I have a family, I have two kids who are devastated by these comments," Engelbert said. "It's obviously been a tough week."

She added that she has spoken to Collier, and that she plans to sit down with her at some point next week, though she admitted that they had not set up any specific details of the meeting.

Engelbert did not directly debunk many of the claims that Collier made in her cutting post-season press conference, which included accusations that the WNBA front office does not care about its players, and that Engelbert had told Collier that players should be "grateful" for what the league has given them.

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But the commissioner did mention "inaccuracy" and "clickbait," though she pointed to social media and reporting rather than Collier's comments. Engelbert added that it was "not productive" to go through and counter every comment Collier made.

However, one comment Engelbert did actively deny was Collier's claim that the commissioner told her that Caitlin Clark "should be grateful" for her off-court pay "because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything."

"Obviously, I did not make those comments," Engelbert said, calling Clark "a transformational player" for the league.

Moving forward, Engelbert said that she planned to work to retain a good relationship with the players in the league, while also addressing issues of officiating and pay — two chafing points with the players this season.

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"(I've) never been a quitter, never shied away ... if there are things we need to fix, we're gonna fix them," Engelbert said. "There's so many things that we can do together and I hope that the players see that.

"I feel confident that we can repair any loss of trust."

This story will be updated.