It does take a lot of guts to stand against the authorities. And Minnesota Lynx star, Napheesa Collier, surely has it in plenty. After fighting for equal pay rights for a long time, it was ‘Phee’ who drew first blood. The Lynx star publicly called out the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert.
Accusing her of a lack of accountability, the 2016 NCAA champion kick-started an entire revolution. Following her footsteps, many fellow WNBA stars eventually spoke out as well. And now, as the league stands at a vital crossroads, Collier has once again come forward with a bold take of her own.
Napheesa Collier Wants WNBA Stars To Spend Cautiously
While the likes of Paige Bueckers, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese have some strong presence beyond the WNBA court, most players do not have that leverage. Thus, according to Collier, as the CBA deal is still not finalized, the need to save up on finances is of utmost importance.
“You never know what’s going to happen. If there’s not a season, we want to make sure everyone’s prepared. So hopefully, everyone has been doing that. That’s something everyone’s been talking about for a really long time. Also, that’s something that everyone checks in with because options change over time,” said Collier in an episode of the ‘Hoops 360.’
The 5x WNBA All-Star also clarified that the players surely want the season to happen. In fact, solving the stalemate is one of their utmost priorities at the moment. But if the authorities do not comply with their demands, the union will make sure to stand their ground. Meanwhile, reflecting on the matter, Mark Cuban had quite an innovative approach to solving the fiasco.
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Mark Cuban Urged ‘NIL’ Style Solution To WNBA As Napheesa Collier And Co. Look Frustrated
Collier might be looking to get things sorted ASAP. But while a solution is looking quite far-fetched at the moment, the Dallas Mavericks minority owner proposed a unique plan. He asked the franchises to follow a ‘NIL’ model.
“Let WNBA teams pay ‘NIL’ money to its players. It’s counterintuitive for NBA folks, but here is the issue. WNBA teams don’t have the margin dollars from tickets, sponsors, and shared revenues like TV to pay bigger salaries using their own cash flow. With help from the league, they could create NIL deals with sponsors that go directly to the players,” wrote Cuban on X.
The crazy part, is that no matter what the WNBA does with salaries, every star college player will take a pay cut to play in the WNBA
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 18, 2026
I asked a few ADs what the going rate is for the star player on a power conference WBB team -$500k to $1.2m.
And, you are always a free agent… https://t.co/kQnpATqSAc
The league might want to take a look at Mark Cuban’s recent proposal. After all, there is significant pressure coming from Adam Silver, too. Thus, with the league’s fate hanging in the balance, fans will be interested to see how things pan out.