And also: what good would it do if she did?
Stepping up to the podium Friday evening, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert did not look like she’d gotten much sleep. It had been a rough week. Lynx star Napheesa Collier called her leadership “tone-deaf and dismissive,” and all the league’s biggest names — from Fever star Caitlin Clark to MVP A’ja Wilson — backed Collier.
Collier’s statement and follow-up reports painted a rough picture of the commissioner. She didn’t text her stars to honor their retirements or check in on active players’ torn ligaments. She didn’t properly value Caitlin Clark’s contribution to the league.
So when she wearily took the podium before Game 1 of the Finals, Engelbert said she had to do better. She cared about the players, she said, was working to repair relationships, and even bowed to Collier’s demands for changes in officiating (a task force is forthcoming). She also denied saying that Clark owed the league for her sponsorship deals and said she had no intention of resigning.
Still, the question remains: Should she resign? And also: What good would it do if she did?
On the bright side, her departure might get the league out of this particular cycle:
The worst example came last September. Engelbert was asked in a CNBC television interview about the toxic and hateful rhetoric that had followed the league’s rise, particularly around the entrance of Clark and Angel Reese.
