“It was always my goal to retire at 62.” Those were Cathy Engelbert’s words after the outgoing WNBA commissioner explained why she decided to step away from the league at the end of 2026.
But while Engelbert has described her departure as a planned retirement, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has a very different view of what happened.
Dave Portnoy’s Recent Revelation Regarding Cathy Engelbert
During Monday morning’s “Wake Up Barstool,” Portnoy argued that Engelbert was effectively fired by the WNBA and that calling it a retirement simply gave her a more dignified way to leave.
“As far as Engelberg’s decision to retire, that’s a lie, right? She was fired, and they gave her the dignity of saying she’s going to retire, but there’s no retiring here,” Portnoy said during the segment.
Portnoy was also highly critical of Engelbert’s role in the WNBA’s recent growth. In his view, much of the league’s massive increase in attention has been driven by Caitlin Clark rather than by the commissioner.
That is a particularly strong claim considering how much the WNBA has changed during Engelbert’s tenure. The league has expanded its business operations and is set to grow from 12 teams to 18 by 2030. Engelbert also oversaw major changes to player compensation through the 2026 CBA agreement.
However, the Barstool Sports founder believes Clark deserves much of the credit for bringing a new audience to the league. He also compared the situation to the NFL.
Portnoy pointed out that the NFL continues to thrive despite his belief that the commissioner, Roger Goodell, is ineffective. His broader argument was that a league can experience tremendous growth even when its commissioner is not the reason behind that success.
“She has done nothing to help this league, really. It’s successful despite itself because of the overwhelming interest in Caitlin Clark. In that regard, she’s sort of like the commissioner of the NFL. It like grows and grows and grows despite Goodell being inept. So they had to get rid of her.”
“You’ve got to get somebody to get this league to get along and put the issues that are dominating the headlines, and get it a little bit more back on basketball. But yeah, she was fired. So there’s not much more to it. She deservedly was fired. All the players hate her guts. Doesn’t matter what side of the fence you’re on. Nobody likes her,” Portnoy added during the segment.
“She’s done nothing to help this league really. It’s successful despite itself because because of the overwhelming interest in Caitlin Clark”
–@stoolpresidente on Cathy Engelbert’s retirement as WNBA commissioner pic.twitter.com/OihDRxo11l— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) September 7, 2026
Engelbert became the WNBA’s first commissioner when she was appointed on May 15, 2019, and officially joined the league on July 17. Before that, she spent 33 years at Deloitte and served as the company’s CEO from 2015 to 2019.
The news of her retirement has already produced an unusual reaction around the league. According to a report from the “Daily Mail,” sources familiar with the situation claimed that many WNBA players were not particularly emotional about Engelbert leaving.
Instead, some reportedly welcomed the news and felt that the league could benefit from new leadership as it enters another major stage of growth.
For now, Engelbert insists that her decision is about retirement. However, Portnoy sees it very differently, and his ‘fired’ theory is likely to keep the debate over her WNBA legacy alive.
