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There has been no shortage of complaints about WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert since the league began seeping into the national sports consciousness following the addition of stars like Caitlin Clark and well, Caitlin Clark. Many have called for her ouster over numerous issues, but her latest gaffe may actually be the one that sends her packing.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier (co-founder of the Unrivaled basketball league and the vice president of the WNBPA’s executive committee) dropped an absolute bombshell when she exposed a conversation she had with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert earlier this year.
“I sat across from Cathy and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,” Napheesa Collier revealed in her lengthy address to the media. “Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin (Clark), Angel (Reese) and Paige (Bueckers), who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years. Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $60 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’”
Will Cathy Engelbert resign or be fired as WNBA commissioner?
Following Collier’s remarks, Sports Business Journal published a report claiming Engelbert would “likely exit as commissioner sometime after the current CBA negotiations due to pressure inside NBA and WNBA circles.”
Later, a source within the WNBA called the suggestion that Cathy Engelbert would be pushed out “categorically false.” Engelbert would later issue a statement of her own addressing the matter.
“I have the utmost respect for Napheesa Collier and for all the players in the WNBA,” Engelbert said. “Together we have all worked tirelessly to transform this league. My focus remains on ensuring a bright future for the players and the WNBA, including collaborating on how we continue to elevate the game. I am disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership, but even when our perspectives differ, my commitment to the players and to this work will not waver.”
Among the many complaints about Engelbert since Caitlin Clark came into the league are concerns voiced by Phoenix Mercury star Satou about the increased schedule, eight-year veteran Brittney Sykes calling her out over the promise of chartered flights, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve absolutely crashing out over the state of officiating in the WNBA, and the Attorney General of the state of Connecticut questioning how WNBA has been handling the potential sale of the Connecticut Sun.
Stephen A. Smith calls for Cathy Engelbert’s resignation
After all of that, and more, Cathy Engelbert’s statement responding to Napheesa Collier’s remarks were simply not good enough for her critics, especially Stephen A. Smith, who lambasted the WNBA commissioner on Wednesday’s episode of First Take.
“Let me say for the record, you should resign. Peroid,” Smith said. “When a player, any player, but especially one of that magnitude attacks you publicly like that, that weak a– statement that Commissioner Engelbert gave is not good enough. And I’m going to say it, it was a weak a– statement. Could you imagine somebody directing comments and criticisms at you, taking conversations they’ve had with you directly and telling the world what you said? And did you see that statement Commissioner Engelbert gave? I mean, she basically provided no defense of herself. … That was an attack against your leadership. It was an attack against your integrity. It was an attack against your character. against your character. And that’s the statement you came out with?”
Stephen A. Smith went on to say that he personally reached out to the WNBA to invite Cathy Engelbert to appear on the show.
“I said, ‘You are welcome to come on my show today and explain,'” he continued. “Because I want to know how the hell somebody says something like that about you as the commissioner? … I mean, whether it was David Stern or Adam Silver or Roger Goodell or Paul Tagliabue, could you imagine? Imagine a commissioner being called out like that directly and that timid temper statement? Oh, she looks guilty as hell!
“And then I’m looking at it. I’m saying, ‘Did you really say that? Did you really say that Caitlin Clark should think of heavenly stars that she wouldn’t be worth anything if she wasn’t playing in the WNBA? Did you really say all of these things that Napheesa Collier brought up?'”
Smith said that after something like that, the league can’t have Engelbert at the negotiating table talking to players. Whether the WNBA agrees with Smith, and others, or not remains to be seen.