Napheesa Collier Puts 'Worst' WNBA Leadership on Blast With Scorched Earth Statement
The Minnesota Lynx have a bone to pick with the WNBA over their exit in the past two league playoffs. They felt like the 2024 WNBA championship was stolen from them after several controversial calls in their WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty, and their WNBA Semifinals loss to the Phoenix Mercury this postseason also came with its fair share of controversy.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve went viral for her criticism of the league and its referees after she was ejected in Game 3 of the Lynx vs. Mercury series, as she said, "I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating. It's bad for the game. The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy is f****** malpractice."
Reeve's comments have opened up a can of worms within the women's basketball community about how the physicality that has been a constant in the league this year isn't being officiated correctly, and that the league office is to blame for this.
Napheesa Collier Puts WNBA on Blast in Lynx Exit Interview
The reason why Reeve was so upset during Game of her team's series was because star forward Napheesa Collier seemed to get fouled by Mercury star Alyssa Thomas during a pivotal fourth quarter possession. No foul was called, Collier got hurt, and Thomas stole the ball to secure Phoenix's win, which prompted Reeve's viral reaction.
Collier conducted her season exit interview on September 30, and went scorched earth on the WNBA.
"Let me be clear: This conversation is not about winning or losing. It's about something much bigger. The real threat to our league isn't money, it isn't ratings, or even missed calls or physical play. It's the lack of accountability from the league office," Collier (who was reading from a piece of paper) said, per an X post from @mikeaalen112735.
"Since I've been in the league, you've heard the constant concerns about officiating, and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that plague our sport and undermine the integrity in which it operates," she added. "Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing. But to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage.
🚨🚨🚨🚨Breaking news : napheesa collier just called out the wnba league leadership , the officials , lack of accountability and went ham 🔥🔥🔥🔥🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/S37aW9yw3H
— Michael (@mikeaalen112735) September 30, 2025
"Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders... What's truly unsustainable is keeping a good product on the floor while allowing officials to lose control of games... Yet leadership just issues fines and looks the other way. They ignore the issues that everyone inside the game is begging to be fixed. That is negligence," she added.
"We have the best league in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But we have the worst leadership in the world," Collier (who is a co-founder of the Unrivaled league) was quoted as saying, per an X post from Underdog WNBA.
Napheesa Collier during Lynx exit interviews on Tuesday:
— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) September 30, 2025
"We have the best league in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But we have the worst leadership in the world." pic.twitter.com/PTLJDhe6Wv
Collier's scathing comments are only going to heighten the pressure the league is facing to institute long overdue change.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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