Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is sticking around, with the WNBA vehemently denying Tuesday's Sports Business Journal report that Engelbert would likely resign as soon as the league settled the ongoing CBA negotiations.
The report characterized Engelbert's issues as relationship-driven, established long before Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier went viral for publicly criticizing league leadership earlier this week.
"She hasn't connected; she's not a relationship builder, which you have to be in that job with the teams, with the players," said an anonymous SBJ source.
In response, a WNBA spokesperson said the claims were "categorically false," with Engelbert remaining unavailable for comment.
Collier's interview spotlighted the league's refusal to deal with faulty officiating, among other concerns, calling the WNBA front office "the worst leadership in the world" as stalled CBA negotiations near their October 31st deadline.
"Year after year, the only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders," Collier read from a prepared statement on Tuesday. "They ignore the issues that everyone inside the game is begging them to fix. That is negligence."
With Engelbert's reputation reaching a new low, the path to a new CBA appears as treacherous as ever — especially as other big-name players continue to voice support for the five-time All-Star.