Cathy Engelbert has overseen a period of historic growth for the WNBA, but a new report suggests that success has not translated into confidence from the people working closest to her. According to ESPN, patience across the league is wearing thin.
The reporting paints a picture of a commissioner whose business wins have not resolved deeper concerns about her leadership.
WNBA Owner Criticizes Cathy Engelbert’s Leadership
ESPN’s Alexa Philippou spoke with more than 20 owners, team executives, players and agents across the league for a story published Friday examining whether Engelbert is the right person to lead the WNBA going forward.
The interviews revealed a wide gap between the league’s business growth under Engelbert and the level of trust stakeholders say she has built with the people around her.
“I don’t see any change [since Collier’s comments],” one owner told ESPN. “I don’t think she’s learned significantly based on her failures.”
The comment referenced Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who ripped WNBA leadership in an explosive exit interview last year, calling it among the worst in the world.
Nine months after Engelbert vowed to address concerns raised at the time, ESPN’s sources say they have not seen meaningful change in how she engages with players, owners, and upper-level management. Multiple high-ranking team sources said they believe the 2026 season will likely be Engelbert’s last as commissioner.
The report also detailed how Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas said she received death threats and racial slurs following an on-court incident involving Clark this season, but never heard directly from Engelbert, despite the commissioner assuring she maintains an open-door policy for all players.
Engelbert’s tenure has not been without significant accomplishments. She has overseen a transformational collective bargaining agreement that introduced the league’s first million-dollar salaries and its first comprehensive revenue-sharing model, while the league office has grown from 12 employees to roughly 85, including its first chief marketing and chief growth officers.
Whether those business gains are enough to keep her in the role remains an open question, one that appears increasingly unsettled the longer the criticism from within the league continues.
The timing of the report adds further weight to the question. It arrives during the WNBA’s All-Star break, a stretch the league typically uses to spotlight its growth and momentum heading into the second half of the season.
Instead, the conversation around Engelbert’s future has become one of the week’s biggest storylines, with sources reporting that internal frustration has built steadily since Collier’s comments last year, rather than easing over time.
Given league-record attendance, viewership, and investment, the gap between its business trajectory and the confidence of the people running it has rarely looked wider.
