Napheesa Collier will miss the WNBA season opener on May 8 while she recovers from surgery, but her influence across the league remains strong.
As vice president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, Collier was a central figure in the recent collective bargaining agreement that boosted the players’ revenue share from 8% to 20%. With league revenues climbing, the deal multiplies salaries across the board so that the lowest-paid players in 2026 will earn more than the highest-paid did in 2025.
Collier — whose outspoken criticism of league leadership last year made headlines — says that blunt messaging was part of the strategy leading into negotiations. Her off-court advocacy has attracted as much attention as her play on the floor, and some observers view the labor fight as part of a longer movement for equity in women’s sports.
In an interview filmed at the Lynx practice site at The Courts at Mayo Clinic Square in Minneapolis, Collier described the players’ amenities and support staff, saying “we really want for nothing here,” and noting services from team chefs to massage therapists.
Reflecting on her season-ending press conference last year, where she publicly denounced the league and Commissioner Kathy Engelbert — at one point calling the leadership “the worst leadership in the world” — Collier tempered the language. “Thinking about the state of the world right now, I think that’s a little dramatic,” she said. Still, she maintained the outburst played a role in advancing the CBA by galvanizing teammates and increasing public scrutiny. Her direct contact with Engelbert since then has been limited, and they have not revisited the denunciation.
The new CBA enabled Collier to sign a one-year “supermax” contract worth $1.4 million, more than five times her projected 2025 salary. While some stars opted for multi-year deals, Collier chose a single season and left open the possibility of exploring new options when that contract ends, saying her focus remains on the present.
Off the court, Collier is a co-founder of Unrivaled, a three-on-three offseason league designed to give players visibility and additional income. She noted many players still earn more from ventures like Unrivaled or from endorsements than from their WNBA paychecks, and she views such projects both as business opportunities and as platforms to grow the game. At 29, she said she plans to keep playing “until the wheels fall off,” estimating she’d like another decade of basketball.
The rising profile of women’s basketball has also brought an uptick in sports betting and associated threats. Collier said bettors sometimes send death threats after disappointing outcomes; most messages are menacing words, but she worries that someone who loses a large sum could escalate to real violence. When asked whether financial pressures might tempt players to influence games, Collier rejected the notion, pointing to players’ integrity and the high personal and professional risks now that many are earning significantly more.