CHICAGO — WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert was evasive when asked directly during her pre-All-Star Game press conference if she expects to be commissioner in 2027. “I am so blessed to be at the helm of this league during this incredible hypergrowth period,” Engelbert said. “I will just continue to do my job, execute the strategy because it’s been working.” 

Here are Engelbert’s full comments:

“Obviously I am so blessed to be at the helm of this league during this incredible hypergrowth period, so blessed that these players are putting the product on the court they are every night, that they stand for the values that the W has long sought for. I will just continue to do my job, execute the strategy because it has been working. Make sure we listen to the players, communicate with the players. 

“Absolutely love this league. Blessed to have the career I had before, blessed to have the career I have now. Mostly the team we’ve built at the league. I came in here and there were 12 people working at the league, and there were probably 12 people for the 24 years before I got here and now we have almost 100 people working full time. We have a lot of others that help us. We leverage off the NBA model as well. And just the enormous capability we’ve built in digital and social. We have engineers, we have WordPress and we have marketers and brand and data, analytics, data scientists. 

“That’s what I’m most proud of. We have built a powerhouse team and that’s what I focus on is leading that team and leading that team to help this game continue to grow so that young girls who typically drop out of sports too quick can see see our players as their role models. That’s what keeps me going. Having the Nike National EYBL players here has been incredible because I’ve spent time with so many of them at WNBA Live and the hotel and just how they view this league and role models. I can’t tell you how many come up to me and say ‘Cathy, I want you to draft me in 2033 or 2034, and I’m like ‘Oh boy.’ They’re really excited about this league, and that’s what keeps me going.”

Engelbert has been in charge since 2019, when she became the first commissioner in WNBA history (previously, the league’s top executive was a “president.”) While she has overseen significant growth during her tenure, she has come under significant fire in recent years amid a contentious labor battle and numerous off-court controversies. 

“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,” Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said last September. 

Adam Silver says NBA, WNBA are having ‘ongoing discussions’ about Cathy Engelbert’s future as commissioner

Lindsay Gibbs

At a press conference at NBA Summer League earlier this month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked about Engelbert’s future. While he said he was “pleased” with the WNBA’s growth, he added that there would be “ongoing discussions” on Engelbert. Here are Silver’s full comments:

So Cathy and I, you know, work together, and I don’t want to speak for Cathy. I would only say, I’m very pleased with where the WNBA is. We’ve made tremendous progress under her leadership over the last several years. Again, the season, we’re off again to a very strong start.

I think my sense was — I was behind the scenes in the collective bargaining process, but I was pleased both with how the league conducted itself and ultimately the Players Association. I think that we reset economically, which was long overdue. My sense is from talking directly with the players that they are pleased with the outcome.

As I said, I think Cathy continues to do a strong job building that league. We’ll have ongoing discussions about what the future looks like.

An ESPN report just ahead of All-Star Weekend cited multiple “high-ranking team sources” who expect that this will be Engelbert’s last season in charge. 

“I don’t see any change [since Collier’s comments],” one anonymous owner told ESPN. “I don’t think she’s learned significantly based on her failures.”

On Friday, WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike expressed empathy for Engelbert and said that it wasn’t her decision whether or not she remained as commissioner. However, she did not sound satisfied with the current state of affairs.

“I think growing pains are natural,” Ogwumike said. “But at what point do those become chronic? You know, after a while, if you’re still experiencing those symptoms, you have to do something to alleviate that type of pain, and that’s what the players are asking for.”