As a player, Becky Hammon was a part of the first generation of WNBA stars that allowed the league to get to where it is almost 30 years later. Now, Hammon coaches the best player in the league and a modern-day dynasty. She has experienced many of the ups and downs of women\u2019s basketball and can now add the most important CBA negotiation in the history of the league to the list.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Hammon isn\u2019t directly involved in the negotiations, the outcome will affect her just as much as everyone else. If there is a strike or a lockout, she won\u2019t be able to do her job. If player salaries skyrocket and rules about coring are adjusted, the way teams build rosters may change. League leadership could also undergo a significant change. Hammon certainly expects it to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a November 12 interview with CNBC<\/a>, Hammon doubted that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert can ever recover from the rift that has sprung up between her and the players. As a result, Hammon said, \u201cI would say they\u2019re probably going to look for a change in leadership. I just think it might be too fractured at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n After everything that\u2019s happened, it wouldn\u2019t be very surprising to see Cathy Engelbert go<\/p>\n It was no secret that the CBA negotiations had hit a few bumps even during the 2025 season. Players wore t-shirts that said \u201cPay us what you owe us\u201d during the All-Star Game and received overwhelming support from fans. After that, things quickly got worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minnesota Lynx star and WNBPA Vice President Napheesa Collier used her exit interview to call out Cathy Engelbert\u2019s leadership. She publicly called Engelbert the \u201cworst leadership in the world\u201d and accused her of ignoring players\u2019 complaints and not valuing their contributions. Collier detailed, for example, conversations in which Engelbert supposedly said only losers complained about referees, Caitlin Clark owes the WNBA for her many endorsement deals<\/a>, and that players should be grateful for the media rights deal she negotiated. Engelbert denied making those comments about Clark and noted that there were a lot of \u201cinaccuracies out there.\u201d<\/p>\n