Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier walked into her end-of-the-season media session with local reporters with a boot on her left ankle, a two-page statement in her hand and something pressing on her mind.

Once she sat down, Collier held nothing back. After congratulating the Phoenix Mercury for advancing to the WNBA Finals, Collier spent the next four minutes ripping WNBA leadership and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for failing to address yearslong complaints about inconsistent officiating and excessively physical play.

The room where she spoke, at the club’s Mayo Clinic Square offices in downtown Minneapolis, fell silent as Collier went after a sitting commissioner in a manner rarely seen from an active player in any sport. Collier criticized league leadership for its “tone-deaf, dismissive

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