Cathy Engelbert will be remembered as the commissioner who made the WNBA deeply political and divisive

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Friday that she would retire following the 2026 season after seven years in the role.

Engelbert took over in 2019 as the WNBA’s first commissioner, and there is no question the league is substantially bigger, more visible and more valuable than when she arrived. The league expanded, secured major media-rights agreements, introduced charter travel and negotiated significant increases in player compensation through a new collective bargaining agreement signed before the 2026 season. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has called Engelbert’s tenure the most significant period of growth in WNBA history. But does she deserve credit for these successes? I believe the answer is clear.

Being commissioner isn’t simply about revenue, television ratings or franchise valuations. A commissioner must also maintain relationships with the players, and those relationships have been objectively tumultuous throughout Engelbert’s tenure. She must protect the league’s reputation and its stars, an area in which she has also fallen short. She must manage controversies, something she has repeatedly failed to do. Finally, she must ensure the on-court product is entertaining and credible, which is arguably the strongest case in her favor.

It goes without saying that Engelbert’s tenure has become increasingly contentious, helping lead to her decision to retire.

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Engelbert’s first major test came almost immediately. The COVID-19 pandemic threatened the 2020 season, but the WNBA successfully created the "Wubble" — a play on words combining WNBA and bubble — in Florida and completed the season.

While it was a success that the season was able to be played, the league also embraced an increasingly prominent social-justice role. I truly believe this is where the WNBA became the most politically divisive league in America. Players wore social-justice messages, including support for criminal Jacob Blake and Black Lives Matter, which was led by self-described Marxists, and the league partnered with players on racial-justice initiatives. Engelbert allowed all of this to happen and disenfranchised fans who didn’t care for the overt political messaging when they turned to sports as an escape.

Engelbert also allowed herself and the league to be bullied by radical left-wing activist players who ousted Atlanta Dream owner and Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler while publicly supporting Raphael Warnock through "Vote Warnock" T-shirts on the court because Loeffler publicly opposed the league’s Black Lives Matter messaging.

When the league could have focused on basketball, Engelbert helped the WNBA become completely intertwined with left-wing politics.

One of the most serious controversies of Engelbert's tenure involved former Las Vegas Aces star Dearica Hamby.

Hamby alleged that she experienced bullying and mistreatment after revealing that she was pregnant. The WNBA investigated the situation and determined that the Aces had violated league rules concerning impermissible benefits during contract negotiations involving Hamby.

The league punished Las Vegas by taking away a first-round draft pick and suspending coach Becky Hammon for two games.

The controversy raised a larger question about how seriously professional sports organizations protect pregnant athletes.

It also placed Engelbert in the uncomfortable position of having to demonstrate that the league's commitment to women's sports extended to protecting players who become mothers.

For years, WNBA teams primarily traveled commercially because charter flights were considered financially impractical under league economics.

That became increasingly controversial as players complained about exhausting travel schedules and safety concerns.

The issue became particularly embarrassing for the league because teams had previously been punished for using unauthorized charter flights.

Then, in 2024, with the influx of attention, security concerns, and money due to Caitlin Clark, Engelbert announced that the WNBA would introduce a league-wide charter program.

Engelbert was right that charter flights didn’t make financial sense before Clark arrived, so I can give her some credit. Ultimately, however, Clark deserves the credit for this, not Engelbert.

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The explosion of Clark's popularity also exposed another problem: the WNBA's handling of physical play and officiating.

Clark was repeatedly involved in controversial physical incidents, and fans increasingly questioned whether the league was protecting its biggest star. The answer? No.

Engelbert was given a gift and she did little to nothing to protect her golden goose.

Players and coaches complained about inconsistent officiating, physicality and a lack of accountability. Engelbert eventually announced a committee focused on the "state of the game" and officiating after concerns escalated.

The level of incompetence from the top down was damning. Without Clark, the WNBA wouldn't reach new heights and new fans. They needed her for the future of the league and Engelbert was afraid to put her foot down in the wake of immense jealousy, hatred and pettiness from her peers.

While the WNBA was drawing record attention, another controversy was brewing: money.

The league had never made a profit. It always operated on a deficit, but players argued that their compensation wasn't keeping pace with the league's rapidly increasing popularity and revenue.

At the 2025 All-Star Game, players wore shirts reading: "Pay Us What You Owe Us."

The message was impossible to miss.

The dispute centered on the league's revenue-sharing structure and the players' belief that they deserved a significantly larger percentage of the money they were helping generate.

The timing was particularly significant.

The WNBA was negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement while simultaneously celebrating record ratings, attendance, sponsorships and media-rights revenue.

Ultimately, the sides came to an agreement, but Clark deserves the credit for that. The deal also raised questions about whether the new CBA was financially responsible. Time will tell.

Then came the moment that arguably did the most damage to Engelbert's reputation among players.

In September 2025, Minnesota Lynx star and WNBPA vice president Napheesa Collier publicly delivered a devastating criticism of league leadership.

Collier accused the WNBA of poor leadership, inadequate accountability and failing to properly address player concerns.

Her most memorable assessment was that the WNBA had "the worst leadership in the world."

She specifically criticized Engelbert over officiating, player safety, compensation and communication.

Collier also described conversations with Engelbert in which she said her concerns weren't taken seriously.

Engelbert disputed some of Collier's characterization of their conversations but ultimately acknowledged that she needed to do better and rebuild trust with the players.

Notably, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham criticized Engelbert in August, calling her a "delusional leader" and stating the league needs a "bold" commissioner who prioritizes players over self-interest.

You'd be hard pressed to find another commissioner with a worse relationship with players.

Engelbert also became involved in one of the most politically sensitive issues in American sports: male participation in women's athletics.

The WNBA faced growing questions about eligibility rules, biological sex and the participation of transgender athletes.

Engelbert put together a task force that has amounted to absolutely nothing, other than providing a clear indication that she and WNBA leadership are so captured by left-wing politics and ideology that neither Engelbert nor the task force can publicly admit that the W in WNBA stands for women and that the proper definition of the word is adult human females.

Fans have been discriminated against for wearing XX-XY T-shirts; Enes Kanter Freedom was confronted by Natasha Cloud for wearing a shirt defining what a woman is; and teenagers sitting courtside in XX-XY T-shirts were verbally abused by a co-owner of the Seattle Storm. Cunningham has been on the receiving end of hard fouls, relentless booing and more since she said men don’t belong in women’s sports and spaces.

In this moment, the WNBA needs a leader to cool the temperature, but Engelbert has failed time and time again.

The league has historically positioned itself as more than a sports organization, taking strong positions on racial justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQ issues and other divisive, left-wing social causes. That alienates fans and is not a good business model. Engelbert will be remembered for allowing the league to be known as the most politically active and divisive in American pro sports.

The WNBA claims to be a league that welcomes everyone, yet some fans and even players increasingly feel that certain political viewpoints aren’t welcome. That’s a problem for which Engelbert is to blame.

In 2026, debates over fan behavior, political speech, men in women's sports and other controversies have become almost as prominent as the basketball itself.

This season will be remembered largely as being overshadowed by controversies involving race, gender, politics and player relations. You can thank Engelbert for that.

The WNBA needs a competent leader who understands business, wants to unite fans around basketball and, most importantly, embraces and markets Caitlin Clark. I won’t hold out much hope for that, though.