{"id":759228,"date":"2026-07-12T21:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759228\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T21:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:58:11","slug":"cathy-engelbert-left-without-defense-and-her-future-in-wnba-looks-bleak-she-needs-to-be-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/759228\/","title":{"rendered":"Cathy Engelbert left without defense, and her future in WNBA looks bleak: \u201cShe needs to be fired\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cathy Engelbert<\/a> is facing another wave of criticism after canceling a scheduled appearance on \u201cThe Dan Patrick Show,\u201d with basketball analyst James Young arguing the WNBA <\/a>commissioner has run out of excuses.<\/p>\n

Engelbert had been expected to join Patrick while attending the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, but the interview was called off late.<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark takes a blow to the throat, and officials don’t call a foul<\/p>\n

Patrick said Engelbert\u2019s PR team eventually told the show she would not appear after he and his producers had been waiting for \u201calmost two hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young responded with one of the sharpest public attacks yet on Engelbert\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe needs to be fired,\u201d Young said on SportsGrid. \u201cCathy Engelbert should have been ran out of this league years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“She gets booed. You think Adam Silver gets booed?\u2026 They boo this lady every damn where she goes. And she continues to mess up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young said the canceled interview reflected badly on the office Engelbert holds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat she did to Dan Patrick is so disrespectful and so beneath the office of the Commissioner,\u201d Young added. \u201cYou hide behind your PR team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engelbert faces growing pressure<\/p>\n

The criticism comes during a difficult period for Engelbert, who has already faced scrutiny over officiating, player safety, delayed CBA negotiations, and the fallout from the Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark controversy.<\/p>\n

Young argued that Patrick\u2019s show offered Engelbert a chance to answer those questions directly rather than avoid them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got referees that don\u2019t make enough money, you got all the players upset about what\u2019s going on in the league, and you have a chance to go on national TV and fix it,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you know what you do? You go into your damn foxhole and go into hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engelbert has previously said she has \u201cnever been a quitter\u201d and will not \u201cshy away\u201d from the challenges facing the league. That position is being tested again.<\/p>\n

WNBA scrutiny deepens<\/p>\n

The WNBA is growing quickly, but that has also made every leadership decision more visible.<\/p>\n

Engelbert\u2019s defenders can point to expansion, stronger attention, and the league\u2019s wider commercial rise.<\/p>\n

Her critics argue that growth has not been matched by enough transparency, consistency, or player protection.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s comments won’t decide Engelbert\u2019s future, but they show how little room she has left with some observers.<\/p>\n

The commissioner had a chance to defend herself on a major sports platform. By backing out, she gave her harshest critics more ammunition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cathy Engelbert is facing another wave of criticism after canceling a scheduled appearance on \u201cThe Dan Patrick Show,\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-759228","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\/759228","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=759228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}