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WNBA commissioner makes her feelings perfectly clear on Caitlin Clark after pay stunt
Daily Mirror ^ | 03 Aug 2025 | Oscar Maung-Haley

Posted on 08/06/2025 12:41:14 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican

There's no doubt about it; WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert could have done without the talk following the All-Star game being about player pay.

The 2025 WNBA All-Star game, which Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark missed due to injury, saw the players competing in the annual event wear black t-shirts beforehand that read: "Pay Us What You Owe Us." The WNBA commissioner was booed at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana, with talks currently taking place over a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Since the All-Star game incident, the conversation has picked up pace. Chicago Sky star Angel Reese slammed the WNBA's meeting between the players and league, calling it "disrespectful", while Hillary Clinton has also backed the players in their pay dispute.

But despite the backlash she has received, Engelbert is in no mood to alienate Clark or any of her fellow stars. The WNBA commissioner has called the sophomore sensation, who was named the WNBA's Rookie of the Year for 2024, "a great player and a great person."

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Engelbert said: "Caitlin's such a great player and a great person. We're so thrilled to have her, and she's been such a great representative of the league."

Clark would likely have always been on the pathway to stardom in the WNBA following her stellar collegiate career with Iowa. However, since she turned professional, her popularity has reached an entirely new stratosphere.

While the league boasts the talents of A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier to name just a few, none of them have reached the levels of popularity Clark has.

However, for the WNBA to be a strong league, Engelbert believes it has to be built up by a competitive product, and not one that is coalesces around a single player like Clark -

(Excerpt) Read more at themirror.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: basketball; morecaitlinnews; sextoys; sports; wnba

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To: RWGinger
In the article it calls Clark a sophomore??

She is a sophomore. It's her second season.

21 posted on 08/06/2025 1:47:55 PM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: TexasGator

That’s an insult to Latvian boys high school teams!


22 posted on 08/06/2025 1:54:18 PM PDT by SpirituTuo ( )
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To: packrat35

Sophie Cunningham can get it.

If I was 25 years younger, 6 inches taller and had another zero or 2 added onto my salary I might have a chance LOL.


23 posted on 08/06/2025 2:06:30 PM PDT by pburiak (You really think we can vote our way out of this? That's so cute...)
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To: MinorityRepublican

What I’ve seen is that the WNBA finally has someone who can actually shoot the basketball. The fact that the person is white IS the problem.


24 posted on 08/06/2025 2:20:25 PM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: T.B. Yoits

Right. Darn I forgot. thanks


25 posted on 08/06/2025 2:50:20 PM PDT by RWGinger
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To: MinorityRepublican

From ganging up on the only player that actually puts fans in the seats, to running off the court when their wigs fall off, to throwing out fans who laugh at it, the WNBA is rapidly becoming a joke.


26 posted on 08/06/2025 3:07:52 PM PDT by TwelveOfTwenty (Prayers for the US and President Trump)
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To: MinorityRepublican

the “you” is the NBA

the wnba aint got no money


27 posted on 08/06/2025 3:09:11 PM PDT by joshua c
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To: TwelveOfTwenty

It’s always been a joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogZQ9JnxZf8

RIP Norm


28 posted on 08/06/2025 3:09:14 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: MinorityRepublican

All these bleeding hearts that think they should be paid more should do their part and pay for season tickets in person and buy the season pass for cable or online. Until then, shut your pie holes. The “W” is a money drain.


29 posted on 08/06/2025 3:12:46 PM PDT by vpintheak (Screw the ChiComms! America first!)
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To: T.B. Yoits

Will Chico’s Bail Bonds spondor a team?


30 posted on 08/06/2025 3:44:55 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (I refuse to call the left "progressive" because I do not see slavery to the government as progress.)
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To: T.B. Yoits

The league loses money. The players would have to be volunteers.

The league does not pay the players. Individual teams negotiate salaries and pay them. Pay issues would only apply to league minimums which may be more prevalent in the WNBA than other sports. I have not followed this so I don’t know the specifics.


31 posted on 08/06/2025 3:50:46 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: T.B. Yoits

The league loses money. The players would have to be volunteers.

The league does not pay the players. Individual teams negotiate salaries and pay them. Pay issues would only apply to league minimums which may be more prevalent in the WNBA than other sports. I have not followed this so I don’t know the specifics.


32 posted on 08/06/2025 3:50:46 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: MinorityRepublican

“Engelbert believes it has to be built up by a competitive product, and not one that is coalesces around a single player like Clark”

That helps but the NBA became popular due to the Magic-Bird rivalry.


33 posted on 08/06/2025 3:52:50 PM PDT by yuleeyahoo (“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” - the deep-state)
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To: MinorityRepublican

2025 WNBA Contract Value Rankings
Listing the top salaries, cap hits, cash, earnings, contracts, and bonuses, for all active WNBA players.

Rank
1 Arike Ogunbowale DAL, G $725,952
22 Caitlin Clark IND, G $338,056
135-162 about 30 players $66,079

(I would have posted the whole list, but it would not copy correctly.)

Sporttrac has a Earnings by Franchise, but it is behind a paywall.

https://www.spotrac.com/wnba/rankings/player/_/year/2025/sort/contract_average


34 posted on 08/06/2025 4:06:27 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: Steven Scharf

It appears the entire payroll for all the teams is $16,417,120.

Lonzo Ball with the 100th highest contract value could cover this with one year of salary.


35 posted on 08/06/2025 4:13:05 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: Night Hides Not

“Something’s not jiving: players’ salaries account for just 9% of costs for the league.”

I wonder what player salary costs are as a percentage of the NBA’s budget (or NFL for that matter). If you think of all the other costs involved: facilities, coaching staff, support and admin staff, medical costs, travel, etc., 9% doesn’t seem like that small of a percentage.


36 posted on 08/06/2025 4:13:07 PM PDT by TauntedTiger (If voting mattered, they wouldn't let us do it. Mark Twain)
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To: MinorityRepublican

They need a commissioner who is not stupid and delusional. Every big thing is built from the first building block. Get the rest of the players off of Clark, clean up the fouls, and get rid of the tranny.

OH, and get a new commissioner.


37 posted on 08/06/2025 4:17:46 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts
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To: TwelveOfTwenty

100%


38 posted on 08/06/2025 4:19:34 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts
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To: Glad2bnuts
They need a commissioner who is not stupid and delusional. Every big thing is built from the first building block.

They can't. Due to DEI.

OH, and get a new commissioner.

They would be far better off if Adam Silver takes over the league. He's woke. And he sucks. But at least he has standards.

39 posted on 08/06/2025 4:26:24 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Cathy, if you ain’t smart enough to know that Caitlin Clark IS your league, then I figure two things are going to happen: One, your league is going to go bankrupt and two, you won’t have a job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1tI9Wcw-8A


40 posted on 08/06/2025 4:29:24 PM PDT by kawhill ("What's that? Conductant. A little dab'll do ya, isnt that right Mr. Jackson?")
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