| When I was a WNBA beat writer, it was not uncommon to hear that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was not “well liked” by players for what could be broadly described as a lack of personal skills. I found it easy to brush aside these murmurs: Engelbert, who left her position as chief executive of Deloitte to lead the league, had the business know-how the WNBA needed in 2019. Since she’s taken over, franchise values have gone up 180 percent year-over-year, according to Sports Business Journal, revenue has skyrocketed and the league secured an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal. What could Engelbert’s likability — a quality famously lacking in quite a few successful and/or long-tenured league executives — possibly have to do with her being a good commissioner? Allow Napheesa Collier to explain. The Minnesota Lynx star, member of the player’s union executive committee and co-founder of Unrivaled, used her exit interview this week to read a four-minute prepared statement that torched WNBA leadership for failing to take accountability for, among other things, the poor officiating that has plagued the league for years. With an impending labor battle serving as a backdrop, she also aired some dirty laundry. Collier quoted a private conversation she’d had with Englebert about why stars such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers make such meager salaries as rookies. “Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because, without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,’ ” Collier said. The statement opened the flood gates for players to air their Engelbert-related grievances, with Reese, Bueckers and now four-time MVP A’ja Wilson expressing support for Collier. Even the notoriously reticent Elena Delle Donne joined in, writing on social media: “It’s the care for the human part for me. I’m still not sure if Cathy knows I retired. Heard from everyone but her.” Delle Donne’s words are clarifying. The WNBA is different from all other major pro sports leagues in the United States. Because it has just 143 players, roots in social justice and laughably lower salaries than its male counterpart, it is paramount that the commissioner shows she cares — both about growing revenue and about human beings. Engelbert lost the trust of many in her constituency with a September 2024 interview on CNBC where she failed to denounce the increase in hate speech being directed at players (she later apologized). Lacking in personal skills does not make one bad at their job. But WNBA players do not feel they’re being protected, be it from injury or online abuse, nor valued, and Collier made it clear: The commissioner doesn’t have to be a best friend. But in this league, to be a good leader, the commissioner has to care. | 
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