Stephen A. Smith did not hold back on WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after she announced she would be retiring after this season. He went off on a scathing rant during Friday’s episode of First Take, saying it was “about time.”
Smith had previously demanded Cathy Engelbert’s resignation after Minnesota Lynx player Napheesa Collier criticized league leadership. He called Engelbert’s response to Collier “weak-a–” and said she had lost the players’ trust and could no longer represent the league effectively.
So, when Cathy Engelbert finally did announce she would be leaving her post as WNBA commissioner on Friday, Stephen A. Smith was more than happy to celebrate.
“About time. Took long enough,” Stephen A. Smith said. “They’ve been wanting her gone, you know? Wishing her nothing but the best. She helped negotiate the recent collective bargaining agreement, so kudos to her.
“But as Napheesa Collier said last year, she questioned the leadership, accused it of being negligent, said they had the worst leadership in the world, and she had the support of a vast majority of the players. And then one controversy after another came up, and Cathy Engelbert appeared to be reactive as opposed to proactive.
“In terms of warding off some of the negative hostility and momentum aimed in players’ directions, which is something that they lamented. I think it’s very, very wise for her to retire. I thought she was ill-equipped to handle the oncoming microscope that the WNBA obviously had developed, and I think that they do need new leadership.
“So it’s good that she’s retiring. It’s good that she stepped away. Everything she did isn’t bad. There’s no denying that. She did some good things, but clearly cultivating relationships with players along with league officials is not something that she’s reportedly done a good job of. And when that’s your record, at age 61, it is time for you to go.”
Stephen A. Smith was not the only one calling for Cathy Engelbert to step down
While Stephen A. Smith might have been one of the loudest voices who have been calling for Cathy Engelbert to resign as WNBA commissioner, he has been far from the only one to do so.
In August, Bill Simmons called for the firing of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and predicted that she wouldn’t return in the role for the 2027 season.
Prior to that, there were concerns voiced by Phoenix Mercury star Satou about the increased schedule, eight-year veteran Brittney Sykes calling her out over the promise of chartered flights, Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve absolutely crashing out over the state of officiating in the WNBA, and the Attorney General of the state of Connecticut questioning how WNBA has been handling the potential sale of the Connecticut Sun.
And then there was the Sophie Cunningham controversy, which spawned even more controversy created by Enes Kanter. Engelbert never did really address the situation and so it has continued to hang over the WNBA far longer than it really should have.