Good Follow - Napheesa Collier’s Bombshell Exit Interview, Officiating In The W Raises Tension & More!

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I'm Roz Gold on Woody, and I am here with five-time wnda all-star angel mccartry angel what's good girl how you doing what's up here in la

you know yep yep

you're in the beautiful studios in the studios i heard you're talking to the what stanford girls your girls yeah so i am actually um at a friend's crib right now i am in the bay area

i am visiting with Stanford women's basketball, my alma mater.

And tomorrow I'm going to speak with the team.

And, you know, in this day and age, we're going to be talking about all sorts of stuff, media training,

brand building, storytelling,

social media, all of that.

So, you know, areas of expertise a little bit and talking with, you know, this year's Stanford squad as they head into year two in the ACC.

I'm excited to get down to the farm.

I love it.

So we got to go to a game when Stanford plays Louisville.

We got to have a little rivalry.

Oh,

baby wager on it.

Okay.

Okay.

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I'm very excited to be in the bay right now and see the team.

But oh my God, girl, we have some breaking bombshell explosive news.

Y'all, what's up, GoFollow fans and family?

We had a whole totally different show for you.

And then Nafisa Collier took the stage for her exit interview and everything got swiped off the desk.

We had to just completely remake the show and give you our instant reactions to.

one of the biggest days in the in the history of the WNBA, in my opinion.

So let's get to today's menu for the show with the scene set being the WNBA finals are nearly here with such a big stage and bright lights.

Nafisa Collier's bombshell exit interview takes center stage.

And so we'll be discussing her criticism of WNBA leadership and accountability.

We will also discuss the officiating controversy in the WNBA that continues to escalate around referees and the calls.

Big show, Angel.

Big show.

But thank you guys for supporting.

You can catch out the show Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Like, comment, and subscribe.

But let's get into it, Raws.

I'm excited for this one.

Let's get into it.

Breaking news.

So Nafisa Collier, she came in hot during her exit interviews today for the Minnesota Lynx, and she directly called out, swiped at,

came right at.

the league and its leadership and directly at the commissioner, Kathy Engelbert.

Let's have a listen.

We have the best players in the world.

We have the best fans in the world.

But right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.

Like,

bombshit.

First of all, I just, I, this is, this is crazy.

Like, in the sense that I personally have never heard just a player being so just outright,

coming straight at the league and at the top.

It's a major statement from a player of Nafisa Collier's stature, talent level, respect level.

Let's pull this up.

Some instant responses at the time of taping.

A couple of players have already chimed in.

Dereka Hamby, thank you for your bravery to Nafisa.

Isabel Harrison, standing with Fi.

Angel Reese, 10 of 10, no notes.

You know, these are some of the biggest and brightest stars, faces of the leagues.

These are some of the most, two of those are some of the most long, big-time veterans, respected players in this league, applauding Fee for what she did on the stage.

Angel, you as a former WNBA player, what do you make of this?

First of all, Fee has done something that a lot of players haven't done in the last decade, the last 20 years.

We hear what we talk about in the locker room.

We hear how players really feel, but are players really speaking out of it?

No, because we're afraid for our jobs.

That is our livelihood, and we don't get paid that much.

So Fee has done something just, it's just a bombshell.

First of all, if Fi gets fine, I'm going to pay your fine back.

I'm saying that myself.

The conditions, raws, of the WNBA have been so unappealing to the players for so long for the lack of officiating, the lack of salary, the lack of pension, healthcare, insurance.

It's just like, where is it going?

The money, where is the money going?

That's the main question too.

Here is a fact.

The league signed a new media rights deal valued at 200 million a year.

So if you have 156 players in the league making between 15 and 20 million, where is the rest rest of the money going?

Do the math.

Give us the receipts of when Kyrie donated to the league.

Where did that money go?

It's not going to the players.

And Kathy, if you said that the fee, they should be lucky, Caitlin should be lucky.

She's making $60 million off the court.

First of all, that's one player out of the rest of the 155.

Like, what kind of leadership is that?

Fia's right.

And I'm going to expose the main bombshell here that nobody is talking about.

Everybody's salary is out.

Adam Silver's salary is out.

The Dumb Bay's, the NBA salary is out.

There's one person whose salary is not out, Kathy Engelberg.

Why can we not Google her salary?

Why is it hidden?

At Deloitte, she made what, 3 million?

That's what we knew she made at her last job.

So we know for a fact that at least she's making $3 million per year.

Not while my Dumb Bay players are making $60,000.

So yeah, there's some things that need to be exposed.

I need receipts on where the money's going because why is it not going to my girls?

The level of passion you're expressing right now,

that honestly turns into frustration, rage, anger.

Like I see that escalating now with the players.

You know, I'm seeing that in the way that they're starting to unite and discuss this league and

where it's at right now.

And it's gone.

And, you know, when I think about what it takes to

have a player take the stage with premeditated remarks, pre-written remarks, and, you know,

swipe this strong at the league.

There's a lot that goes into this.

Let's continue to listen to Fee and what her conversation, what she said here about the league.

The league has a buzzword that they've rolled out as talking points for the CBA as to why they can't pay the players what we're worth.

That word is sustainability.

But what's truly unsustainable is keeping a good product on the floor while allowing officials to lose control of games.

Fans see it every night.

Coaches, both winning and losing, point it out every night in pregame and post-game media.

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.

For me, this isn't just something that comes from one moment in time.

It comes from many examples of

fees-word negligence, lack of respect, lack of communication, lack of transparency, and it escalates to this moment of explosiveness.

And so for me,

what I am observing at this time of receiving this breaking bombshell from Fi,

understanding that the scene set of this is there's a contentious CBA going on in the background, understanding still, it's my job as a journalist to be objective.

We have yet to hear back from the league and Kathy Engelbert at this time.

I'm just responding to what we've heard only from Fee.

And some of those parts of her conversation are allegedly.

Another consideration is Nafisa Collier's role as a co-founder of Unrivaled, an alternative women's basketball league,

you know, and how that could influence her comments and perhaps any conflicts of interest that come with her position there.

You know, she did bring up things that are part of a conversation that we were not there for.

So, you know, we still need to hear from Kathy in response to this.

And Kathy will have that stage.

If she doesn't do it immediately, the WNBA finals, the timing couldn't come any faster because there is a commissioner's session where all the media speaks with the commissioner and gets to ask questions.

And I'm sure this will be the main point of conversation.

And she's, you know, Kathy's going to be held accountable by the media.

But

for me,

What listening to Fee's exit interview shows me that there's a pattern that has happened over the course of time that leads to this explosion and this explosive of an exit interview.

And for me, I've seen, even from my own observations of a body of work recently now from the WNBA,

there's a pattern of unprotectedness, there's a pattern of contempt, and a pattern of lack of transparency coming from the WNBA towards its players, towards its fans, towards its teams

that is leading to this moment that is now explosive.

So, the unprotectedness,

players are being unprotected in that they are literally getting hurt.

There are literally players crying for some consistency,

you know, calling out for issues with refereeing, and now they're having season-ending injuries.

Like they cannot even perform the craft that they've devoted their life to.

And they are unprotected.

if no one is willing to

listen to the need for better officiating.

Pattern of unprotectedness.

And I'm talking about not this season, but also looking at last season.

The league took far too long to address hateful behaviors, hateful speech, toxic environments.

for players and creating a safer environment from them after the players complained over and over again last season.

It took far too long for them to publicly denounce that.

Unprotectedness.

There's a pattern.

Unprotectedness.

Another pattern that I'm seeing, contempt, a pattern of contempt.

The alleged comments of the commissioner about Caitlin Clark and other players and the way that they benefit from the WNBA platform show me contempt.

And that's not a mindset that values the players as partners in this business.

For me, it's very condescending and it's very outdated.

And it's outdated too, because it belittles the fact that these women in the modern day age of NIL and this NCAA, it belittles the body of work for their building an audience, brand building,

business building, you know, money, all of that that they bring to the WNBA before they even step foot on the court.

This new age of players is bringing that.

to the WNBA before they've ever played a game.

So that mindset is incredibly outdated.

I even think that there's a pattern of contempt and also lack of transparency, and how the league has been handling the sale of the Connecticut Sun.

And the contempt is for, you know, ownership that has been a partner of the league for over two decades.

The contempt is for fans, kind of feels like bully ball.

We're not getting all the information.

There's a lack of transparency around what's actually happening with this sale.

So, why does something escalate to this mountain of an explosion?

It's a pattern

unprotectedness, disrespect, lack of transparency,

contempt.

And that's when a workforce comes together in this way, Angel.

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Well, there's been a lot of unprotectedness for a while.

And with your leadership, you never want your leadership to feel like it's more about the business than the players.

And that's what it's looking like.

Speaking of myself,

who has gotten hurt, tore my ACL in the game because a girl runs into my leg, bulldozes into my leg like a football player because it was bad.

We had complained about bad officiating the whole game.

This was my semifinals.

This was my chance to get a ring on the stage to go to the finals.

I get hurt because of that.

We had yelled and screamed it.

Girl runs into my leg.

My career has never been the same since.

Do I have any kind of health care or pension to take care of me now for what what my body has gone through all these years of giving my all to this game?

No.

So I got to go out here.

And I'm speaking for the legends who don't have the voice that I have that are out there working.

They're nine to five now after giving their all to the league and there's nobody supporting them and they weren't offered a hundred thousand dollar job.

Where is the protectiveness for these for these girls?

I go to get my teeth clean.

I got to pay out my pocket.

If I have another knee issue from being bulldozed in my leg, I got to pay out of my pocket.

No pension for us, nothing after giving my all to this game.

And those are some things with this new CBA that has to change for the future of this league and for these women who put their bodies through so, so much.

And that's where the protectiveness can start.

Right.

Because it's protectiveness.

It's you protecting your players while they're playing.

but it's also the life that they have afterwards as well.

There you go.

And,

you know, the conversation around officiating

is, you know, first of all, Angel, like,

I see you.

I appreciate you.

Like, I'm sorry that this is the way you've been left after literally dedicating your entire life

to ball.

And thank you for that.

You know, yeah.

And like,

you know, for

you to feel like you've been used and discarded and and unprotected, hurt and let go.

And like, that's what these players are calling for.

They dedicate their whole lives to these games and to this game, to this game.

And like, you're impeding their ability to actually do this craft, you know,

and

also the results.

Like, this is also about integrity of the game that fouls and officiating.

is fair and consistent and allows the game to be played at the highest level possible to be appreciated.

Like, see, you know, Fee said sustainability,

the product gotta be sustainable.

Like, is this a good product?

That's what Fee's saying.

And I think we've heard that from a lot of people.

Let's move to some of the conversation we heard from officiating in the WNBA.

When Fee was asked, when Fee asked Kathy about the officiating issues, this is what Kathy had to say.

At Unrivaled this past February, I sat across from Kathy and asked asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league.

Her response was, well, only the losers complain about the refs.

Wow.

And then to continue on to what's been happening in the WNBA playoffs,

Cheryl Reeve, her comments about officiating, she was fined $15,000 by the league.

Then just for agreeing, Becky Hammond and fever head coach Stephanie White, they made like small comments kind of supporting Reeve saying that, you know, she didn't tell any lies or I didn't hear anything wrong.

And they were each fined $1,000 each.

And here's the issue.

Like the WNBA doesn't have to put out an announcement.

Like we don't get an email from the league or an official announcement that we have fined so-and-so for this reason.

This is why.

This was the amount.

There's no transparency like that.

It's we only hear about this because of a media scrum.

And if the coaches tell us.

So actually, Stephanie White had this to say about her fines.

I already got fined for supporting Cheryl.

So

yeah, which I think is crazy.

But, you know, look, I think there's nothing, there's nothing that we want more than just consistency.

That's, that's what I would say.

Oh, what is that?

Yeah.

It's a form of silencing and it's a form of control.

Just all these fine, $15,000 for sure is absolutely insane.

Even Sophie Cunningham, I don't obviously agree with everything she does, but she has a podcast and she's always found by the league on her podcast.

First of all, the league, that means the league is watching everything we do, like we're kids, watching everything we say.

Are you finding these women?

If it was bad, I'm like, okay, you deserve the fine.

But this stuff, it's a form of control.

And what Fi did today,

she opened up a sleeping giant.

Yeah, it does seem like the league is trying to have control, but without lack of transparency, it can really impact integrity.

And integrity in sports is really important or perceived integrity of it.

And that's across any league or sport.

Let's move along.

Fee made other important comments during her exit interview.

This one addressing Caitlin Clark and other players.

I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin, Angel, and Paige, who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years.

Her response was, Caitlin should be grateful she makes $60 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything.

Wow.

So I my first response here is,

again,

these are alleged comments in a conversation we weren't there for.

So,

you know, Kathy does get the grace of responding to this.

However, what is happening here, if these comments are true, it just shows that the league is belittling the all the work that these players are doing, all of their brand capital,

all that they bring to the table, much earlier now in the age of NIL, that they bring to the table, that they're bringing, business that they're bringing, fandom and audience that they're bringing to the WNBA before they ever play a game.

And certainly Caitlin Clark was already that before she came to the WNBA.

She already had that commanding power.

And so it's really

disappointing if that's the mindset because and outdated because more and more these players are not lucky to be in the WNBA, they are partners with the WNBA.

And this is really important as they step into a CBA negotiation, where I think it's going to be really critical for everyone to

carve out what their roles and identities are and contributions are

to this league and the success of it in the year of 2025 and beyond.

That's so true.

You know, thank God that

the brands are helping these women.

Because like me and Candace has spoke on this, we didn't become financially successful because of WBA.

We had to go do years overseas and in Russia and so much sacrifice.

So, but Kathy, the WBA is making you rich, right?

Because we know that your salary is in the millions.

So how could you even, I need, Kathy, I love you, but I need you to be for the players.

And it's seeming like.

You're not for the players.

You're just for the business.

And that has to change.

The players first.

the business stuff is already going to come but the players have to be first because that is the product

and i feel angel that we have seen the more you invest into this thing the more returns you're getting so you know whether that has been putting the games on prime channels prime tv you know windows um investing in practice facilities investing in the quality of life for these players you know putting together um ways for them creative ways for brand partnerships to happen, authentic and meaningful ones, you know, NIL, all of this has driven increased momentum for women's basketball.

Why would you suddenly have such a small mindset around the players now?

I think it would only encourage thinking bigger and bigger and the investment of those very said players.

But with that investment, Roz, isn't the teams paying for the practice facilities?

Not the WBA.

Right.

Where is our investment coming from the the wnba i need the receipts release them show them because it's not for the girls right and the investments that we're seeing coming in from all of those outside energy entities new owners brand deals there you go tv media rights the money's going towards the league and the investment is being made into the wnba but if all the players kind of looking up and wondering when does this trickle down to me it's on the backs of their the backs of their bodies, their sweat, their pain, their injuries, their effort over the years, all that they have devoted to this league.

And it's not, they're not getting their slice.

And it's just also reminiscent of constant conversation where it's like black bodies, you know, a good percentage of this league, 80% or something, something like that, 70 or 80% of the league is black women.

And, you know,

not getting what they're worth.

And if you take race out of it, women not getting what they're worth

equity

the the wnba is right at the center of this conversation of equity of gender equity pay equity gender rights and like you would hope that a woman's league would get it right

so all eyes will be on the league i do want to say this as we close this out and head to break um as a journalist it's important to also just bring up some objectivity here again these comments some of them are allegedly about a conversation we were not there for, so we await comments from

Kathy Engelbert and the league and their response.

Also,

you know, just thinking about where this happens, it's during a contentious CBA, so everybody has something to gain from these kind of public comments, and both sides do.

And also,

it was asked during the media presser, look,

Fee is coming off of a really disappointing season, personally, missing the MVP, ending in an injury, not winning a championship, falling short, and the dramatic way in which it ended.

Somebody asked, and I thought it was a great question: you know, does this happen

if

they win the chip?

Could you see her at the podium after the Lynx running it back to the finals and winning a championship, you know, bringing this kind of conversation up?

Does this still happen if the Lynx win a championship?

I don't know.

We don't know.

It's not, it's a hypothetical, but it's worth bringing up in the discussion of

monumental remarks from Nafisa Collier.

Another consideration is Nafisa Collier's role as a co-founder of Unrivaled, an alternative women's basketball league,

you know, and how that could influence her comments and perhaps any conflicts of interest that come with her position there.

We'll be right back.

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All right, y'all.

That does it for an explosive day in the WNBA and for this show.

Angel, it was great kicking it with you and hearing from you.

And

for all of you at home watching, thanks for tuning in.

Subscribe.

I'm pretty sure we're going to be covering all of this for the next weeks and months to come.

All right, we'll be back.

See you Thursday.

Julian Edlow here from DK Network.

Tune in to DKN Daily Bets Monday through Friday, a fun, quick-hitting podcast where we bring in knowledgeable guests from across the sports betting industry to break down our favorite bets of the day.

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