Cathy Engelbert’s decision to retire after seven years as WNBA commissioner comes at a moment when league insiders are openly questioning her leadership. Days after her announcement, executives voiced frustration over her absence from key moments, especially Caitlin Clark’s home games in Indiana.
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“These jobs, you have to go in with your eyes open because that is the job,” said one executive, per Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. “It’s not dropping in, et cetera. You’ve got to show up. It’s every weekend. … You just have to be there.”
Over the past two seasons, that criticism has become the league’s open secret. Engelbert rarely appeared at public events or during controversies, leaving players and executives feeling abandoned. Her absence isolated her from the league’s power centers, a fatal misstep for any commissioner.
According to SBJ’s Tom Friend, Engelbert never attended an Indiana Fever home game since Clark joined the league in 2024. For a commissioner to lack relationships with general managers, coaches, or star players like Clark undermines trust and credibility.
Napheesa Collier underscored that point in her fiery exit interview last year, saying Engelbert told her Clark should be “grateful” for the platform the WNBA provided.
The perception of disengagement deepened after the Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark incident, when Thomas pressed her fist to Clark’s throat. The controversy spread like wildfire, drawing a letter from Republican lawmakers demanding accountability.
Thomas later revealed she faced harassment and death threats, yet Engelbert never publicly stepped up. “Here we are with all this stuff that’s happened,” one team executive told ESPN. “And it just, at different points, has felt like, ‘Where are you?’”
For stakeholders, Engelbert’s absence carried bigger repercussions. Conversations with more than 20 insiders, including owners, management, and players, revealed a consensus: while Engelbert oversaw business growth, she wasn’t the right person to navigate the league’s current demands.
As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA ownership begin the search for her successor, executives say they want “someone who can work a locker room and a corporate room, someone who can mesmerize the masses with a speech.”
Speculation has already centered on Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris as potential replacements, though the process will only begin once the 2026 season concludes.