LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The WNBA finals tip off tonight. Normally, the series between - excuse me, I don't know why I got confused here. Normally, the series between the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury would be the biggest story in the league. But instead, a controversy has taken over. NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan is here to talk it through. Hi, Becky.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: Good morning. So what's this controversy about?
SULLIVAN: Well, yeah. So basically, the other day, a player named Napheesa Collier had this end-of-season press conference where she unleashed this, like, very strident, poignant criticism of league leadership, and especially of commissioner Cathy Engelbert. So Collier talked about a bunch of issues that have been simmering for a long time, things like referees and pay for players and leadership just not listening to concerns. And, you know, it's important because this is a very prominent player. She is the star for the Minnesota Lynx. She's a many-time All-Star. This year, she was voted the second most valuable player in the league. And she's just, like, really respected. She's very calm. She's very smart. And so for her to go scorched-earth like this is a very big deal.
FADEL: OK, so tell me more about what she said and why it's caused such a stir.
SULLIVAN: Well, I think it's caused a stir because the criticisms of the commissioner were very direct and personal.
FADEL: Yeah.
SULLIVAN: And so Collier said she had tried raising these concerns in private conversations with Engelbert. It hadn't gone anywhere. I'll play you a little clip of what Collier said. She is recalling sitting down with the commissioner earlier this year and pressing her about the league's very low pay for these young stars - like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers - who have brought with them these massive fan bases. Here's what she said.
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NAPHEESA COLLIER: 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. And in that same conversation, she told me players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them. That's the mentality driving our league from the top. We go to battle every day to protect a shield that doesn't value us.
FADEL: Wow. Wow.
SULLIVAN: Yeah, so you get a little flavor of that.
FADEL: Yeah.
SULLIVAN: Engelbert, in response, she put out a statement. She said she was disheartened by Collier's remarks. She said she has utmost respect for WNBA players. She's committed to the future of them and the league. But this pay issue especially is the very biggest tension at the heart of the league right now, these low salaries for players that predate the boom in attention. Now the league is bringing in all this new revenue. The league's salary for those players that I mentioned, like Caitlin Clark, is about $80,000. So anyway, it's not surprising that there has been a lot of voice - or a lot of support voiced for Collier this week from other players.
FADEL: So that's hanging over the finals. Game 1 is tonight.
SULLIVAN: (Laughter) Yeah.
FADEL: How are players on the two teams talking about what Collier said?
SULLIVAN: Yeah, well, of course, they were asked about it. It's the biggest story of the WNBA right now. So the Las Vegas star A'ja Wilson, she said she was, quote, "disgusted" by Collier's accounts of what Engelbert said. Both teams do say they're trying to focus on the games, obviously. Here's guard Kahleah Copper from the Phoenix Mercury.
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KAHLEAH COPPER: We are standing behind Phee. We are in heavy support of everything that has to do with the league because this is a really big year. But just right now, we are really locked in.
SULLIVAN: And actually, just to follow up on that - she calls it a big year. Part of that is that the union contract between the players and the league expires later this month. And that is now shaping up to be a big fight, too.
FADEL: OK. Before I let you go, though, you have to tell me about what to expect in the games themselves.
SULLIVAN: Yeah. Yeah, it's a best of seven series. That's a first for the WNBA. It used to just be five. The Aces are led by A'ja Wilson. She's a four-time MVP. The Mercury are back in the finals for the first time in a few years after adding this duo of All-Star forwards in Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas to their roster. Two really great teams. They played four times this regular season. Vegas won three of those times, so it's not surprising that they're the favorites. But I think anything can happen over the course of seven games.
FADEL: That's NPR's Becky Sullivan. Thank you, Becky.
SULLIVAN: You're welcome.
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