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Let’s go.Engelbert stepping downCathy Engelbert’s retirement news hit last Friday morning with a relatively mild reaction.Of course, the timing of it was interesting. A Friday news dump before a holiday weekend during the FIBA World Cup break seemed like a strategic plan to mitigate response. But news that Engelbert’s final day as commissioner will be the last day of the year wasn’t a shock to anyone, anyway. Going back to last fall, Engelbert’s future as the WNBA commissioner came into serious question when Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier publicly shredded her leadership abilities and exposed the details of a private conversation. Despite Engelbert denying the comments Collier alleged she made, the damage had been done. Not even the ratification of a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement could rectify all relationships.When NBA commissioner Adam Silver was noncommittal in the spring about Engelbert’s future, the writing was on the wall that 2026 would likely be her last year at the helm of the league.Engelbert’s contract is up at the end of the year, sources told The Athletic. The process of selecting a new commissioner will begin “later this month,” according to memos Silver sent to league stakeholders.While the end of Engelbert’s tenure has included more scrutiny than praise, there’s no denying the fact that she presided over the league during its most successful growth era. Many will remember her for the relationship pitfalls, but the unprecedented financial gains, the record-breaking expansion fees and the stability the league has reached deserve recognition.Some of her biggest triumphs include carrying the league through its pandemic season, stewarding the sale of the Atlanta Dream from Kelly Loeffler to a three-person investor group of Larry Gottesdiener, Suzanne Abair and Renee Montgomery and, of course, the ratification of two CBAs.Engelbert, the WNBA’s first commissioner, was the right person at the time, in 2019, when she was hand-selected by Silver. But now, the league is in need of a person who can balance the business side of things with the present moment.
