WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was in the hot seat over the new CBA. There was no doubt, quite a bit of anxiety as to whether this year’s WNBA deal would get done. But now that it’s all said and done, one of WNBA’s very own, Satou Sabally, is giving Cathy her full endorsement.
“Kudos to Cathy, she really wanted to make a new CBA work. She did it. It was transformational like she promised it would be, and that is truly where she also deserved her flowers, because it shows like we are at the forefront of women’s basketball and women’s sports in general,” said Sabally in a recent interview, giving full compliments to Engelbert for her role in getting the deal done.
While Engelbert has been a controversial figure in basketball, especially because of her dismissive behavior at times, and some of her rather strained relationships with a few players (cough, cough, Napheesa Collier and Kelsey Plum, among others), Sabally has not shied away from giving credit where it’s due.
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Without the commissioner’s support, this momentous deal might not have materialized in the first place. Being the commissioner, Engelbert ensured that smooth channels of communication were always maintained, ensuring both sides reached a consensus.
She made sure to leverage her position to benefit the players, raising the salary cap and guaranteeing higher maximum contracts. It was her efforts that facilitated the expansion to a 44-game regular season and helped secure a $75 million investment round, strengthening the league’s financial base. Her background with companies like Deloitte helped her in securing outside capital, which was necessary for the sustenance of the league, and without it, the players wouldn’t have made these many gains in salary.
But is it the same for Satou in New York?
Senior New York Players Compromise On Salary For The Team’s Sake
As the WNBA world rejoices in this new victory they have earned, there are also sacrifices being made with the Liberty players choosing to cut down on their salary to accommodate others, as per Front Office Sports. Players like Satou Sabally and a bunch of others are making this hard choice.
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In the past two days, two-time MVP Breanna Stewart, 2021 MVP and 2024 WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, four-time All-WNBA selection Sabrina Ionescu, and three-time All-Star Satou Sabally all agreed to deals with the Liberty. Like nearly every WNBA veteran, all four players were free agents, although Stewart and Ionescu signaled shortly after the new collective bargaining agreement was signed that they would stay in Brooklyn.
Stewart and Ionescu signed three-year, standard max contracts worth $1.19 million in 2026. As for Sabally, her contract is worth $815,000 in 2026 and $855,750 in 2027. Mind you, these terms come despite both Stewart and Ionescu being eligible for a $1.4 million supermax contract, which players with at least five years of service can obtain by re-signing with their current team, and Sabally is eligible for a standard max.
This clause in Satou’s contract was brought to her attention in a Liberty post-game conference, where she admitted that even though she is eligible, she would not choose to pursue it because she wants to answer a bigger call.
“I could be a superstar and single myself out on a different team and get that 1.2 or 1.4, but what I really wanted to do is win a championship. That’s missing on my resume. I know I’m a great player, but I do want that ring, and I want to do it alongside people that I trust and alongside people that I want to really compete with,” Sabally stated, making her point very clear on the matter.
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Satou Sabally is seeking a greater purpose that money cannot provide at the moment. In her six-year career in the WNBA, the ultimate championship has still eluded her, despite many individual accolades having come her way – 3× WNBA All-Star selections (2021, 2023, 2025), WNBA Most Improved Player (2023), among others, and now she doesn’t want to wait any longer to get her hands on the trophy.
