A difficult day for WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert ended with the league being pressured to say she has no plans to resign from her submit this offseason.
Hours after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier went scorched earth on Engelbert and obtained no scarcity of individuals agreeing along with her, Sports activities Enterprise Journal printed a report claiming Engelbert would “doubtless exit as commissioner someday after the present CBA negotiations as a result of strain inside NBA and WNBA circles.”
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The WNBA’s CBA expires on the finish of this season, so such an exit would imply this might be Engelbert’s last season as commissioner. One in every of SBJ’s sources didn’t paint her present scenario in a great mild:
“She hasn’t related; she’s not a relationship builder, which it’s a must to be in that job with the groups, with the gamers,” a supply aware of league workplace dynamics mentioned final month. “I feel she’s a depraved sensible enterprise particular person, and the success she will get lots of credit score for. However a commissioner has to have a character ingredient that may contact each constituent that they’ve. I feel she’s simply missing in it.
“You’re the place you at the moment are, you’ve got to get by means of this labor negotiation. After that, it wouldn’t shock me if she did a victory lap and rode off again into the company world someplace.”
In response, a WNBA spokesperson advised SBJ that the supply’s feedback “categorically false,” with no additional assertion from Engelbert.
Engelbert has been WNBA commissioner since 2019, becoming a member of the league after a tenure as CEO of Deloitte.
Cathy Engelbert is none too standard within the WNBA in the intervening time. (Picture by Michael Hickey/Getty Photos)
(Michael Hickey by way of Getty Photos)
The present flurry of criticism aimed toward Engelbert could be traced again to Recreation 3 of the Minnesota Lynx’s semifinal sequence towards the Phoenix Mercury. A no-call involving some laborious contact with Collier led to an harm and an apoplectic response from Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who blasted the league’s officiating in her postgame feedback and obtained a one-game suspension for her response.
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On Tuesday, Collier took the rostrum for her end-of-season information convention and made Reeve’s feedback look mild by comparability. She criticized not solely the WNBA’s officiating, however took direct photographs at Engelbert’s management and claimed the commissioner mentioned, amongst different issues, “Gamers ought to be on their knees thanking their fortunate stars for the media rights deal that I acquired them.”
Given {that a}) Collier is a vice chairman on the WNBPA’s government committee and b) the league and union have made seemingly little progress on a CBA they should have a season subsequent 12 months, these feedback rang even louder than a participant blasting a commissioner normally does.
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Engelbert launched an announcement saying she was “disheartened” by how Collier characterised their conversations, however the torrent of gamers supporting Collier and coaches supporting Reeve — Stephanie White and Becky Hammon — is an indication of the place issues at the moment are in a league with some negotiating to do.
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