{"id":50982,"date":"2025-10-13T22:40:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T02:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/wnba-tension-between-players-and-cathy-engelbert-over-leadership-and-salaries\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T22:40:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T02:40:58","slug":"wnba-tension-between-players-and-cathy-engelbert-over-leadership-and-salaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wnba\/wnba-tension-between-players-and-cathy-engelbert-over-leadership-and-salaries\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA: Tension between players and Cathy Engelbert over leadership and salaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

WNBA Players’ Criticism of Commissioner Cathy Engelbert<\/h2>\n\nNneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBA players’ union, reacted to Napheesa Collier’s statements about the league’s leadership. Collier, in an interview after her departure, strongly criticized commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the management of the WNBA, calling it “the worst in the world”.\n\n\n

“My first reaction was ‘I agree'”, Ogwumike stated. “And I felt proud to be part of this union and to have players like Phee demonstrating their leadership.”<\/p>Nneka Ogwumike<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nThe players’ support for Collier was immediate and evident, showing a deterioration in the relationship between Engelbert and the athletes. This distancing has been developing over the years, despite the league’s growth and success in various areas.\n\nThe current situation is exacerbated by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations, which expire on October 31. The players have expressed their dissatisfaction and the need for a thorough review of the agreement.\n\nThe players’ distrust of Engelbert’s leadership goes back several years, including tense moments like the 2020 season in the WNBA “bubble,” where players focused on social justice issues and activism.\n\n\n

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Nneka Ogwumike identifica los primeros signos de tensi\u00f3n con Cathy Engelbert en la temporada de 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nIn that period, the league and Engelbert publicly supported the players’ decisions, although, according to Ogwumike, internal conversations focused more on commercial aspects than on supporting the athletes.\n\nAnother point of conflict was Engelbert’s comments on the rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, which were criticized by WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson for fostering a “toxic fandom”.\n\n\n
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Cathy Engelbert inici\u00f3 su mandato como comisionada de la WNBA con un nuevo convenio colectivo. Ahora, la comisionada es el blanco de las cr\u00edticas de las jugadoras en medio de las negociaciones de uno nuevo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nOne of the biggest disagreements between the league and the players was the issue of charter flights. Despite the constant complaints from the players and incidents like the one involving Brittney Griner, the league was slow to implement charter flights for all teams. The arrival of Caitlin Clark and the media attention she generated finally prompted the league’s decision to implement charter flights for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.\n\nRegarding the new collective bargaining agreement, the players are seeking a salary structure that is linked to the league’s revenue and higher salaries. Frustration is palpable, and the negotiations are presented as a crucial challenge for the future of the WNBA.\n\n\n
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Kelsey Plum cree que ambas partes pueden ganar en el pr\u00f3ximo convenio colectivo. “La conversaci\u00f3n ha sido combativa y eso est\u00e1 aumentando la frustraci\u00f3n”, dice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nEngelbert, faced with growing tension, tried to address the situation, but his statements failed to calm all the players.\n\nThe current situation of the WNBA reflects a complex dynamic between the league’s leadership and the players, with an uncertain future amid CBA negotiations.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WNBA Players’ Criticism of Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Nneka Ogwumike, president of the WNBA players’ union, reacted to Napheesa Collier’s statements about the league’s leadership. Collier, in an interview after her departure, strongly criticized commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the management of the WNBA, calling it “the worst in the world”. “My first reaction was ‘I agree’”, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[9333,1381,604,382],"class_list":{"0":"post-50982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-wnba","7":"tag-cathy-engelbert","8":"tag-cba","9":"tag-players","10":"tag-wnba"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}