WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert needs to start listening to the players
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks during a news conference before the WNBA All-Star basketball game on July 19 in Indianapolis. Credit: AP/Michael Conroy
Following what is a time-honored tradition in almost every sport, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert will hold a state-of-the-game-type news conference Friday before the tipoff of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals.
Season-ending news conferences usually are predictably dull, self-congratulatory events in which a commissioner reviews the past year through the rosiest of glasses, emphasizing the growth and quality of their game and giving soaring predictions for the future. If any news does emerge, it almost always takes a back seat to the game that follows.
That won’t be the case for Engelbert on Friday. Not only will this be the most important news conference she has ever held as a commissioner, it also could be her last.
Engelbert’s players are just a few steps away from a complete mutiny, which became apparent to the sports world at large Tuesday when Napheesa Collier, a five-time WNBA All-Star with Minnesota and the vice president of the union, used her season-ending exit interview to air her grievances about the league in general and Engelbert in particular.
“We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now, we have the worst leadership in the world,” Collier said in a nearly four-minute statement. “The real threat to our league isn’t money; it isn’t ratings or even missed calls or even physical play. It’s the lack of accountability from the league office.”
What really got the attention of even the most casual WNBA fans — or even those who are just Caitlin Clark fans — was an exchange with Engelbert that Collier said the two had last February while attending an Unrivaled league match.
Collier said that when she asked Engelbert why the league’s young stars such as Clark and Angel Reese were making so little money despite driving league growth, Engelbert responded, “Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.”
Since then, player after player has publicly supported Collier. On Thursday, the most important player of them all backed her up. Clark, who in her first two years in the league has mostly shied away from anything that smacks of controversy, threw her support behind Collier.
“First of all, I have great respect for Phee,” Clark said. “I think she made a lot of very valid points. I think what people need to understand is we need great leadership in this time across all levels. This is straight up the most important moment in this league’s history. This is a moment we have to capitalize on. Phee said it all, and I think the points that she made were very valid.”
Clark said Engelbert has not reached out to her since the comments were made public. Engelbert did release a statement earlier this week saying she was “disheartened” by how Collier described their conversation and that while “our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.’’
Engelbert came to the WNBA from Deloitte, a consulting firm, six years ago and has been the commissioner as the league landed an 11-year media rights deal with expanding franchise values, attendance and revenues.
Yet based on the numerous complaints about her leadership on social media the past couple of days, it appears that she has been a better business person than people person. Player after player has called her out for not reaching out to them.
Perhaps the most striking comment was the one by two-time MVP Elena Delle Donne in an Instagram post about what happened when she announced in April 2024 that she was going to retire: “I’m still not sure if Cathy knows I’m retired. Heard from everyone but her.”
The league has grown tremendously since Engelbert took over, and her ability to forge connections with the business community has a lot to do with that. Yet now that the world seems to be waking up to what a great product the WNBA has, the league needs to turn its attention to nurturing and protecting it.
Engelbert needs to listen to the players’ concerns about officiating rather than allegedly telling Collier “only losers complain about refs.” She needs to do a better job of addressing player concerns, especially about the racism and misogyny they have faced on social media. And most of all, she needs to give them a bigger share of the pie.
How can you expect the world to treat your players like superstar athletes when you are paying them less than an entry-level consultant at Deloitte?
Yes, that’s a lot to juggle when you also have to please owners. But if she can’t, Engelbert may have taken the league as far as she can take it.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
