NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at an event on Monday that he recognizes that the relationship between WNBA players and league commissioner Cathy Engelbert needs to be addressed but he\u2019s confident a new collective bargaining agreement will be reached.<\/p>\n
The issue reached a critical point last week when Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said that the WNBA has the \u201cworst leadership in the world.<\/a>\u201d Several WNBA players have supported Collier, including Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. The criticism came amid tense collective bargaining talks<\/a> between the players union and league and a looming Oct. 31 deadline for the current CBA. Engelbert is the head of the WNBA, but she reports to Silver, who said on Monday that he believes the relationship with the players can be mended.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no question that the WNBA is going through growing pains, and it\u2019s unfortunate that it\u2019s coming just as their most important games and (the WNBA Finals) are on right now,\u201d Silver told reporters at a NBC Sports event. \u201cWe\u2019ve had two fantastic (finals) games so far, and we want to celebrate the game at the moment, and then we\u2019ve got to sit down with the players and negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThe WNBA is experiencing some growth pains. At the same time, Cathy Engelbert has presided over six years of some of the strongest growth we\u2019ve not only seen in the WNBA but any sports league in history. But it\u2019s become too personal and we\u2019re going to have to work through those issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Engelbert spoke to reporters on Friday before the WNBA Finals between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury and called Silver \u201ca great supporter of mine.\u201d Silver said that he would make himself available to help in CBA talks if he were needed and cited his relationships across the league, though he noted he is not planning to at the moment.<\/p>\n Silver hired Engelbert six years ago and gave her the title of commissioner \u2014 the WNBA\u2019s first. She said Silver has not been in bargaining meetings, but she provides him with \u201cupdates periodically.\u201d She said: \u201cHe\u2019s been very supportive of how we\u2019re thinking about the (league offer of) substantial increase in player salaries and benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n