Caitlin Clark’s comments of the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert

The previous comments were revealed after Gelbert denied having said to the Minnesota Lynx star, Napheesa Collier, that Clark “should be recognizing that she wins $ 16 million on the ground because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she would do nothing,” said collier.

While Gelbert denied having made this statement at a press conference on Friday, his previous comments during an interview with CNBC Changmakers Summit in April 2024 echoed similar themes.

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Caitlin Clark poses with the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, after being selected as a global choice n ° 1 by the fever of the Indiana in the draft of the WNBA 2024 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY, on April 15, 2024. (Brad Penner / USA TODAY SPORTS)

“Caitlin has the ability to get closer to half a million dollars just in WNBA salaries this year. So, of course, they just look at a base that is collectively negotiated. And, in fact, it is low because it is the n ° 1 choice. It will do a little more,” said Engelbert.

“It also has millions and millions of dollars (in). Because it has declared becoming pro, its approvals are higher in value of a dollar. It has a global platform now, not only an American platform. So it will do very well, just like the best players in the League as does each league.”

Engelbert made the comments just a few days after Clark was selected with the n ° 1 choice of the WNBA 2024 draft by fever. Clark’s WNBA base salary was only $ 76,535.

Clark signed an eight -year contract and $ 28 million with Nike that she signed in April 2024, before playing a match in the WNBA. And she had already had agreements with Nike and other sponsors during her university career in Iowa.

The commissioner faced an immense reaction from fans, media experts and active players after collier made the allegations according to which Engelbert said that Clark should be “grateful” and “would do nothing” without the WNBA last week, which, according to Collier, came in a private conversation.

Collier also allegedly allegedly allegedly told him: “The players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights agreement that I obtained them.”

While approaching the alleged comments on Clark, Engelbert denied having made them.

“Obviously, I did not make these comments. Caitlin was a transformative player in this league. She was a great representative of the game. She brought tens of millions of new fans to the game,” said Engelbert at the Friday’s press conference.

However, Engelbert did not explicitly denied making alleged comments on players who “should be on his knees”. Instead, the commissioner replied by saying that there had been many “inaccuracies” reported in the media.

“There is a lot of inaccuracy through social media and all these relationships,” said Engelbert. “Lots of reports, a lot of Innacuracy on what I say, what I haven’t said.”

Inside Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s Impact on male basketball

The Lynx star of Minnesota, Napheesa Collier, was frank on the comments of the recent comments of the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert. (Trevor Ruszkowski / Images Imagn)

Engelbert said later: “I am discouraged. I am also a human. I have a family. I have two children who are devastated by these comments. So, all I say is that it was obviously a difficult week, and I just think that there is a lot of staple there.”

However, Engelbert recognized that if the players do not feel “appreciated”, she “did better”.

“I was discouraged to hear that some players feel the League and that personally, I do not care about them or listened to them,” said Engelbert before the first game of the WNBA final on Friday evening.

“If the players of the ‘W’ do not feel appreciated and the value of the league, we must do better and I have to do better.”

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The WNBA and the union of its players, the WNBPA, are in negotiation for a new collective agreement.

The Association of Players and the WNBA agreed with an eight -year agreement in 2020, but the WNBPA voted the last Eyar to withdraw early from the agreement. The current agreement expires on October 31.