The 2025 WNBA Finals are getting underway on Friday night, but the story of the night is likely to be that of league commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
The commish met with the media for the first time since Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier dropped a bombshell of a prepared statement in which she claimed Engelbart said players should be on their knees thanking her for the league’s media deal. She also allegedly stated that Caitlin Clark should be thankful for the WNBA’s opportunities, which allow her to earn a substantial amount of money from endorsements.
Engelbert has a chance to put these allegations to bed on Friday night in her pre-Finals press conference. However, instead of directly answering whether or not she said what Collier claimed, she mostly discussed generalities about “inaccuracies” and how the reporting around this was affecting her family.
When asked directly by ESPN’s Malika Andrews if she said what Collier claimed about WNBA players, Engelbert said, “There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” and that “I just think there’s a lot of inaccuracy out there.”
ESPN’s Andraya Carter noted the deflection during WNBA Countdown.
“When you are asked a question, you should probably answer that question. And when Malika asked, ‘Did you say’ and then quoted Cathy, Cathy didn’t say, ‘No, I didn’t say that.’”- ESPN’s Andraya Carter pic.twitter.com/6AFT65prwG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 4, 2025
“When you were asked a question, you should probably answer that question,” said Carter while discussing the comments with Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike. “When Malika asked, ‘Did you say?’ and then quoted Cathy, Cathy didn’t say, ‘No, I didn’t say that.’ I think that should be the first. If you didn’t say that, you should say that you didn’t say that. She said, instead, there have been a lot of inaccurate statements.
“Now I’m already… I just have questions. I have more questions because if you said it or you didn’t say it, what is the answer? It’s a yes-or-no question.
“Then. same thing when she asked, ‘Do you think you’re the right fit to continue this leadership?’ I think the first answer should be ‘Yes.’ I’m just not feeling confident. What word did you use? Tepid? I’m just not feeling the confidence in those answers.”
To be fair to Engelbert, she was very direct when asked if she said what Collier claimed about Caitlin Clark, saying, “Obviously, I did not make those comments.” But in a way, that makes it even more odd that she wouldn’t do the same for the other alleged comments.
There have been reported that Engelbert is likely to leave her post once the CBA agreement between the league and players is in place. In this moment, it feels hard to imagine she would be doing herself and the league any favors by staying in the role beyond that.
In the meantime, credit to ESPN for being direct and forceful with their questions and commentary about Engelbert. Even though they’re a primary media rights holder, they haven’t shied away from their role in reporting on this significant story.