OT: Napheesa has her say on WNBA leadership

[EricLA]

I have a question - there seems to be a myth that is being perpetuated by I'm not sure who. I can't find the article, but it was from ESPN and it talked about Unrivaled and AU saying that they were "rival leagues to the WNBA". How? I would understand if they were trying to encroach on the WNBA season and pull players from the WNBA, but it seems like the W should LOVE Unrivaled - great pay, keeps the players in the US, smaller court, hopefully less chance for injuries, and no overlap. What am I missing?

I was reading that Saudi Arabia is trying to start a basketball league to compete against the NBA - funding it from the Sovereign Wealth Fund - many seem to be pooh-poohing it, but never underestimate SA's ability to throw billions at something if they want it enough. I wonder if they will try for a women's basketball league. That would seem to be a bigger rival to the W, especially if they choose to have their league the same calendar season as the W...

 

[cancontent]

I have a question - there seems to be a myth that is being perpetuated by I'm not sure who. I can't find the article, but it was from ESPN and it talked about Unrivaled and AU saying that they were "rival leagues to the WNBA". How? I would understand if they were trying to encroach on the WNBA season and pull players from the WNBA, but it seems like the W should LOVE Unrivaled - great pay, keeps the players in the US, smaller court, hopefully less chance for injuries, and no overlap. What am I missing?

I was reading that Saudi Arabia is trying to start a basketball league to compete against the NBA - funding it from the Sovereign Wealth Fund - many seem to be pooh-poohing it, but never underestimate SA's ability to throw billions at something if they want it enough. I wonder if they will try for a women's basketball league. That would seem to be a bigger rival to the W, especially if they choose to have their league the same calendar season as the W...

WNBA Star Claims League Wants to 'Push Unrivaled Out' Amid Tense CBA Negotiations

In tandem with WNBA All-Star weekend festivities, WNBA officials met with the players association (WNBPA) to discuss the leagues next CBA (Collective Bargaining

www.si.com

I've never seen anything from the WNBA publicly stating they see either league as a rival. Don't recall seeing anything from ESPN either. Closest to it is this article from Sports Illustrated prior to the all-star game which may what you're thinking of. In reading it, the rivalry perception may have come from Gabby Williams' comments per this quote:

" “Especially being in the CBA meeting yesterday, it’s very clear that the league wants to push away all other leagues without still paying us more than those other leagues pay us,” Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams told the media Friday.

“It would make sense if they were paying us more here but it still isn't the case, even with the new proposal. And it’s very clear now that they want to push Unrivaled out, push [Athletes Unlimited] out…so I think now more than ever it’s important to push against these kinds of issues.” "

 

[Dogdude]

Yeah, Unrivaled was specifically formed not to be in competition with the W, just an enhancement for the players. But, you know, we'll see...

 

[Bigboote]

This has been discussed in the thread on the general board. I think there's consensus that: a) the WNBA is embarrassed that the upstart league is able to pay the players way better than the 25-year-old WNBA; b) The W is concerned that Unrivaled may be taking investors away from the W.

I'm with you, Engelbert and the WNBA brass should be thanking their lucky stars for Unrivaled (and maybe AU, which I know nothing about). The W has the rule that veterans can't show up more than a few games into the season due to overseas obligations. Unrivaled specifically doesn't overlap with the WNBA season and they pay well enough that players don't need to go overseas for the paycheck. And the season is short enough that they players get a month or so off at each end. So the best players don't sit out seasons, plus they arrive healthier. That's a win-win.

But Engelbert doesn't understand that. And, totally unrelated to the above but directly related to the thread, she also doesn't understand Napheesa Collier. She's the granddaughter of a diplomat, whom she reveres. And her father raised her with a deep sense of what is right. For Engelbert to basically accuse Collier of lying -- nobody who knows anything about Collier would ever think that.