It\u2019s safe to say WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert isn\u2019t a fan favorite.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That much was clear as she was met with emphatic boos from the crowd at Barclays Center while she attempted to present the New York Liberty with the Commissioner\u2019s Cup trophy on Tuesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was no mistaking the target of the negative crowd reception, as the boos began the instant the tournament’s namesake touched the mic, and didn\u2019t stop until she was done speaking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After New York outlasted a fourth quarter comeback attempt from the reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces to secure a 93-85 win, Engelbert had plenty to discuss. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Liberty secured a $500,000 prize and became the league\u2019s first team to become two-time champions in the in-season tournament, which was introduced in 2021 \u2014 an impressive result considering New York\u2019s tumultuous start to the season. Breanna Stewart won the title game\u2019s MVP award, another rousing development considering she was dealing with injuries en route to an early playoff exit last season. \u00a0<\/p>\n
But instead of delivering a message that touched any of the major plot points, it appeared that the crowd contributed to Engelbert rushing through her comments. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to both teams. Hard fought by the Aces to get here tonight,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cBut Clara and Joe, the entire Liberty organization, the entire Liberty coaching staff … 2026 Commissioner\u2019s Cup champions. Congratulations.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The boos come amid another period of scrutiny for Engelbert after Phoenix Mercury\u00a0forward Alyssa Thomas called on her and the league to take action after Thomas was on the receiving end of death threats and online abuse following her suspension for “recklessly” making contact with Caitlin Clark’s throat during the\u00a0Mercury’s\u00a0111-109 win over the Indiana Fever\u00a0on June 24. Thomas said the league failed to reach out to her about the suspension or in the aftermath of the on-court incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of this is new for Engelbert, whose voice was overwhelmed by relentless boos by fans as she attempted to congratulate the Aces and crown them the WNBA champions in Phoenix last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n
That time around, Engelbert\u00a0was embroiled in a flurry of condemnation after\u00a0Minnesota Lynx\u00a0star\u00a0Napheesa Collier\u00a0called her and the WNBA out for having the “worst leadership in the world.” Several WNBA players, including Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson, publicly supported Collier’s comments. \u00a0<\/p>\n
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert booed at Commmissioner’s Cup final<\/p>\n
Reporting by Callie Fin, USA TODAY \/ USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s safe to say WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert isn\u2019t a fan favorite.\u00a0\u00a0 That much was clear as she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-736279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}