Cathy Engelbert may have helped steer the WNBA into its most successful era financially, but she has also faced immense scrutiny. During the CBA negotiations, Minnesota Lynx star and WNBA Players’ Association Vice President Napheesa Collier publicly said the league was under “the worst leadership in the world.” Now, after the Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark incident, the topic of the Commissioner’s potential exit has resurfaced.
So as questions about her long-term future once again continue to circulate, analyst Sabreena Merchant believes Engelbert is now managing a league far different from the one she signed up to lead.
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“She took the job in 2019. I would imagine a 10-year term seems kind of reasonable for how long she would want to be in this job,” analyst Sabreena Merchant said in the latest episode of the No Offseason podcast. “Although this is a very different job than she originally assumed.
Apr 13, 2026; New York, NY, USA; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks at the start of the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed at Hudson Yards. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“The league is bigger – physically, there are 15 teams. There’s an international presence in Toronto. There’s obviously just a massively bigger spotlight on the WNBA than there was when she took this job. But I also don’t think she wants to go out like this.”
“Being a commissioner who was felled by PR scandals – like an inability to communicate with her players, an inability to protect them online, an inability to just keep the band together, doesn’t feel like the way she’d want to go out considering all of the ways that she has improved the league.”
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Sabreena Merchant’s co-host and insider Annie Costabile herself reported on Cathy Engelbert’s potential exit in March of this year. It came shortly after the WNBA signed the historic CBA with its players after a 17-month negotiation saga.
Costabile said that leading up to the CBA negotiation, there was “strong speculation” that there would be a transition of power. “I don’t think that this deal getting done changes that,” she said.
The WNBA commissioner’s own take matches with Merchant’s assessment. In October 2025, Engelbert made it clear that she has no plans of stepping down.
“I’ve never been a quitter,” Engelbert said. “I’m not gonna shy away. I’m the commissioner of this league, the leader of this league.”
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However, since then, the WNBA commissioner has once again landed on the wrong side of the players. Alyssa Thomas publicly called out Engelbert for not contacting her even after she faced extreme harassment and threats on social media.
It was only after Thomas spoke publicly on June 30 that the WNBA commissioner put out an official statement. “The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players,” Engelbert clarified to The Athletic.
However, that delay was enough to once again put the WNBA Commissioner under the spotlight and restart the conversation about her longevity and future in the WNBA.
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The post “Very Different Job Than She Originally Assumed”: Cathy Engelbert WNBA Exit Talk Draws Blunt Analyst Assessment appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
