Caitlin Clark: Points made in Collier’s statement were ‘very valid’ (0:32)Caitlin Clark details why Napheesa Collier’s statement highlights a key moment in WNBA history and the league must capitalize on it. (0:32)
Alexa PhilippouOct 2, 2025, 03:49 PM ETCloseCovers women’s college basketball and the WNBA Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati EnquirerFollow on X
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said Napheesa Collier “made a lot of very valid points” this week when the Minnesota Lynx star ripped WNBA leadership.
“I think what people need to understand, we need great leadership at this time across all levels,” Clark, who missed most of the season with injuries, said Thursday in her first media availability since mid-July. “This is straight-up the most important moment in this league’s history. This league’s been around for 25-plus years and this is a moment we have to capitalize on.”
Collier said Tuesday that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told her that 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.” Clark said she had not previously heard that story and that she has not heard from Engelbert since Collier’s remarks.
Clark didn’t directly respond to Engelbert’s alleged comment but pointed out that NIL has allowed college players to grow their brands and earn money before they get to the league, such as how she did at Iowa.
Clark was also asked what she would consider great leadership, in the context of players’ recent comments saying they’re disappointed with what they’ve seen from the league level.
Cunningham added that she has had NBA players reach out “in awe of how terrible it is … and feeling bad for us because of how we’re getting treated.”
The Fever guard also described league leadership in the context of CBA negotiations as “very, very poor.” The WNBPA and WNBA are in the midst of talks with the current CBA set to expire at the end of October, and players have increasingly expressed exasperation in how things have stalled.
“There’s a potential lockout, because I promise you that we are not going to play until they give us what we deserve,” Cunningham said. “And that’s kind of where it’s headed, unfortunately, which would be the dumbest basketball decision business-wise ever, considering the momentum the WNBA has right now.”
Cunningham and Clark were two of the Fever’s five players who were ruled out for the 2025 campaign with season-ending injuries. Clark, who was limited to just 13 games and last suited up in mid-July, said she injured her ankle in August with “probably one of the worst sprains I’ve dealt with” while recovering from her groin injury, the former preventing her from seeing how she had recovered from the latter.
Clark said that she has “probably started feeling my best” over the past couple of weeks and hopes to start incorporating 5-on-5 into her on-court work by the end of October. She also will be preparing for USA Basketball opportunities in the coming months.
Caitlin Clark: Points made in Collier’s statement were ‘very valid’ (0:32)Caitlin Clark details why Napheesa Collier’s statement highlights a key moment in WNBA history and the league must capitalize on it. (0:32)
Caitlin Clark details why Napheesa Collier’s statement highlights a key moment in WNBA history and the league must capitalize on it. (0:32)
Clark added that she has “great respect for Phee” and “Phee said it all.”
Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham went a step further in expressing her frustration.
Cunningham said the players have a call Thursday to get an update.
CloseCovers women’s college basketball and the WNBA Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati EnquirerFollow on X