LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert typically highlights the league’s successes over the past season at her annual state of the league address.<\/p>\n
This year’s speech might be a little different. Engelbert will speak Friday night ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals for the first time since Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier\u2019s blistering assessment<\/a> that the league has \u201cthe worst leadership in the world” with a commissioner who lacks accountability.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The best-of-seven championship series between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury in many ways is being overshadowed by the off-court issues facing Engelbert and the league.<\/p>\n Engelbert is in the midst of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement that the players say aren’t going well<\/a>. There’s a deadline of Oct. 31 to get the new CBA done unless both sides agree to an extension.<\/p>\n The commissioner also is dealing with the potential sale<\/a> of the Connecticut Sun, who would need league approval to relocate anywhere.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n There’s also been the season long critique of WNBA officiating<\/a> by players and coaches.<\/p>\n Not all is troubling around the WNBA. The season’s attendance was its highest in league history. Ratings have been strong this year even with Caitlin Clark out<\/a> with injury for the second half of the season and the playoffs.<\/p>\n For all the faults that Collier cited in her prepared comment on Tuesdays, Engelbert has delivered on many of her promises since coming into the league in 2019.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n She will have added six expansion teams by 2030 and secured a major new media rights deal for the next decade that will bring in more than $2.2 billion. Engelbert also had the league pay for a full charter flight program this season that the players hope will be added to the new CBA to address concerns about issues ranging from safety to travel time.<\/p>\n The commissioner has said all along that the league is hoping for a transformational agreement that includes significantly increased player salaries and benefits.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n