Thursday: WNBA’s Cathy Engelbert is failing as the WNBA Commissioner

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Over the last several days, WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert has
come under a ton of fire, and mainly from a
four minute rant from Thefisia Collier, the outstanding player at Minnesota,
and other players have backed what Nofisia Collier had to say,
including to re kind of recap. There was a meeting

(00:21):
before the season began in which Thefisia Collier asked Kathy
Ingelbert what they were going to do about the physicality
with officiating, and her response was only losers complain about
officiating Wow. That the WNBA players should be grateful and
on their knees for the TV contracts that they got them,
and that the Kaitlin Clark, the WNBA's platform has allowed

(00:44):
Kitlin Clark to make sixteen million dollars a year off
the court. News flash, Kathy, Kaitlin Clark could play in
the field of dreams and make sixteen million dollars. She
doesn't need the WNBA. You need her, and so does
every other team in the league. And you need more
Nofiatia Colliers and Asia will and a lot of other players,
Paige Becker's and Breonna Stewart and all the great players

(01:05):
that make this league draw the attendance that it is.
But part of the comments that you're going to hear
in a second from Scott Van Pelt is apparently after
Delena Deladon announced her retirement before the season began this year,
Elelena Elena Deladon, what I say, Deleana Elena Deladon, Yes, yeah,

(01:28):
I want to make sure we get it correct. I
didn't know that I said delayne I thought I said,
Elena Deladon.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Maybe it was your Oklahomian.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
I doubt it. I've been here longer than I was there.
So anyway, she retired, and Kathy Engelbert didn't even acknowledge
her retirement, let alone do anything to celebrate the time
that she had in the league. So last night, Scott
Van Pelt, in the middle of his show After Baseball,
had this to say about the words from the Fisia

(01:57):
Collier and the support that she's getting from her peers.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Rarely have we seen a takedown of a league commissioner
as calmly or efficiently delivered. The fact that it came
from the feast a Collier, one of the league's best
players and most respected voices, only amplified its impact when
a star player says directly, we have the worst leadership
in the world and you are the leader. Your response

(02:22):
that you're disheartened that your perspectives differ makes me wonder
if you heard what Fee said, because it's not differing perspectives,
it was a direct call for your job. The chorus
of voices of current stars in the WNBA, which echo
Collier's sentiment, didn't have a single opposing voice, and the
one that blew me away was the post from Alena

(02:44):
Deeladon on Instagram, who said, and I quote, it's the
care for the human part for me. I'm not sure
Kathy knows. I've retired heard from everyone but her, and
I don't like to pile on. That's not my thing.
But when a player is beloved, respected and decorated, Deledhon
retires as a multiple MVP League champion, seven time All Star,
and member of the W twenty five, which celebrated the

(03:07):
top twenty five players in the league's first twenty five years.
You throw that woman a parade. If she actually suggested
Caitlin Clark should be grateful for what she makes off
the court, that's preposterous. Did you miss the IOWA years.
Clark is the Tiger Woods tide that lifts all boats.
The WNBA has benefited from her presence more than the
other way around. This was a whole lot more than

(03:30):
just a shot across the bow. Gothy Engelbert has got
to do more than say she's disheartened and a press release.
The commissioner needs to explain how it is that a
player such as Kyllier could ever come to feel this
way and seemingly be speaking for all of her peers.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
All Right, that was about she went about three minutes.
That was about a minute and fifty seconds of the
three minutes, he was spot on pretty much everything. And
I said this yesterday and in previous topics about this
on the show. I think the WNBA has picked great
leaders of industry to be their commissioner for a number
of years and they've been very I guess creative and

(04:13):
who they've picked and if they've succeeded. And I think
Kathy Engelbert came from the accounting firm of Deloitte, and
I think Deloitte has a partnership with the WNBA and
the NBA. They're the ones that do the draft lottery
and make sure that that's secure, and I guess they're
really good accountants. But just because you can run an
accounting firm with the success that Kathy Engelbert did doesn't

(04:33):
mean you can run a professional sports league. If I
were getting a commissioner for the WNBA, I'd find a
former commissioner of a football conference in college football, or
an assistant commissioner at the NBA level or NHL or
Major League Baseball level. I would find somebody that understands
the business of sports, the marketing of sports, the emotional

(04:53):
attachment that fans have to sports. You can count all
the beans you want whenever you want, and you can
go make negotiate is all you want. But if you
cannot connect yourself as a leader to the players and
to the owners in the same boat, you're kind of
a kind of in a lot's cause. To echo those comments,
Caitlin Clark was asked about what Nfiicia Collier said and

(05:14):
to find out if what she thought of Nefiicia's rant
the day before.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
First of all, I have a lot of I have
great respect for Fee and I think she made a
lot of very valid points, and you know, I think
what people need to understand, you know, We need great
leadership in this time across all levels. This is straight
up the most important moment in this league's history. What
this league's been around for twenty five plus years, and
this is a moment we have to capitalize on. So

(05:43):
that's honestly what I would say. I think there's you know,
f you said at all with what she said, And
you know, I think the points she made were very valid.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
At the end of this basketball season, at the end
of October, the current WNBA collective bargaining agreement will expire,
and there's been a lot of people that have been
kind of disappointed that the players are going to potentially
get locked out or go on strike because of the
potential of not having the contract that they want with
the new collective bargain agreement. And I think the players

(06:13):
are delusional in thinking that they're going to get fifty
percent of the revenue of a league that constantly loses money.
But I think the owners and the commissioner is also
equally delusional that nine percent is a fair number when
it's the players that are making the game popular and well.
Caitlin Clark is the needle. Players like Fisha Collier and
Asia Wilson and Paige Becker's and Breonna Stewart and others

(06:35):
are part of making that needle move a little bit.
And so Kaitlin Clark's absolutely right. This is a crucial
time for the league because if they have a workstoppage
and they don't play next year, or they are they
have a truncated season next year, then you're going to
have people that are going to lose interest in it
in a hurry, and it's going to be even more
difficult to get it back. Even if Kaitlyn Clark becomes

(06:57):
a superstar and stays healthy and she's our close to
superstar status as it is. The definition of a superstar
is when you can walk into an opposing building and
the building sells out because of you a star. You
only sell at your own building. That's a direct quote
from Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Superstars sell out opposing arenas.
Superstars make sure that no matter where their game is played,

(07:19):
people come to watch, and it's appointment viewing for television,
and that's where the WNBA is. I'm not sure that
we can have a collective bargaining agreement with her as
the commissioner. I think that's going to have. That's going
to be one of the things that has to change,
probably in the next few days. Not only is she
going to come under fire to potentially resign or she's

(07:40):
going to have to have a league meeting with all
the players and say, I'm sorry, I mess this up.
What can we do to make it better. I want
to be a part of making it better. Let's fix
this and then have that come to meetings so that
we can have a better dialogue. They've got to fix
the officiating. They've got to fix the physicality. They've got
to they've got to make sure that their star players

(08:04):
aren't beat up to the point where they can't play
because you're allowing physicality and the people that are your
meal ticket to making sure that the fans show up,
that they're ready on game day when they come out
to play, and not on the bench because they're nursing ain,
groinstrain or a ligam of damage in your ankle because

(08:24):
you allowed the game to be officiated at a very
physical level. That's got to change. And this idea that
losers only complain about officials. Listen, Becky the other day
was asked about something I think she got fined for
it when she was asked about the physicality of the game,
and she said, well, they shot thirty four free throws
and we shot eleven. That's why we lost. And she's

(08:44):
not wrong. You have to put yourself in a position
as a coach to make the game fair, and so
often the games are not officiated at the level they
should be for people that are as good of athletes
as those that we currently have in the league.

Speaker 2 (08:58):
Unfortunately, Andy, I don't think they're and you're repaired to
this whatsoever. Probably not wit with Kathy, because again the
thing that we reiterated yesterday was that the commissioner, Kathy
Engelbert didn't deny anything. She didn't say yeah, she didn't
say oh, you know, I'm sorry, Noficia took it that way,

(09:18):
that's not what I meant, or it was out of context,
or she didn't defend herself whatsoever. So it leads me
more to believe that even if you want to say, okay, well,
maybe Theficia Collier was a little over dramatic with some
of her words. The fact that, like you mentioned, Asia Wilson,

(09:38):
the you know, the the Becky, the best, the best
player right now in the w NBA Becky Caitlin Clark,
and so many other individuals have said, yeah, she's not wrong.

Speaker 1 (09:53):
So see, I think Katelyn Clark's the top ten player
in the league, and obviously is the needle, and Asia
Wilson or probably one and two or two and one
in the league as far as best players, and then
you have others that are kind of in between those.
But when those three players come out and say we're
the leaders of this league, We've earned this platform, and
this is what's going on, and this is what we

(10:13):
have to fix, and you don't listen to it as
a commissioner, you're probably not going to have the success
that you think that you should or that you're hoping for.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
Well.

Speaker 2 (10:20):
But again, like I said yesterday, is it goes back
to all of the the w NBA owners as well.
If I'm looking at the commissioner and saying, Okay, you
work for us, you're supposed to have the best interest
in the league, and you don't want to protect your
own players. You don't want to look out and protect
my player a lah, Asia Wilson, Caitlin Clark, I'm sorry,

(10:45):
bye bet or bye.

Speaker 1 (10:46):
Kathy well Gon, you have to you have to get
a competition committee, and that's what they do in the NBA.
This is what we're gonna call this year. This is
how we're going to play. And you know, seven eight
years ago, we changed the way that we play. We
got rid of we got of obstruction. How good would
Michael Jordan or even Tim Duncan and motto but have
been if you couldn't have hand checked him? And now

(11:06):
you can't hand check anybody now. I think the regular
season and the NBA has gone too far to where
there's not enough physicality, but it's there to protect the
players over eighty two games, and right now the WNBA
is out of control with the physicality of the game.
All right, more coming up. It's a five point forty
seven on the ticket.