Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images
Jun 11, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert meets with the working media before Portland Fire against the Las Vegas Aces at Moda Center.
The WNBA yet again finds itself in a crisis of its own making after the latest controversy involving Caitlin Clark and future Hall of Famer Alyssa Thomas.
Thomas was suspended one game for her punch to the throat of Clark in a game between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury. But many believe that the league has not done enough to protect Clark.
On the other side of the aisle, you have players who feel as if they’ve been unfairly targeted by both Clark fans as well as bad-faith actors who are using Clark to drive home political points.
All the while, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert appears to be laying low and refusing to answer any difficult questions.
Mostly recently, Dan Patrick offered Engelbert, who is playing in the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe, a chance to come on his show and speak about several topics, incluidng the Clark controversy.
Patrick says that Engelbert initially accepted the offer before no-showing the interview and then blaming WNBA PR staff.
Dan Patrick on WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert cancelling her appearance on the show:
“If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens! These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you – a fair platform. I will treat you with respect.” pic.twitter.com/15VOBZIxAd
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) July 10, 2026
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert Snubbed Dan Patrick Interview
“Yesterday, after the show, we waited almost two hours for her,” Patrick said during Friday’s show. “This was scheduled. She was going to do a conference call in her hotel room, and then she was going to join us.”
Patrick noted that his producer, Todd Fritz, waited about 90 minutes for an update from Engelbert as the case the show remained on standby to hear something.
“We’re waiting to interview her. They didn’t balk at anything, didn’t say you can’t ask anything. And we thought, okay, we’re gonna be able to finally ask questions about Caitlin Clark, the WNBA, expansion, a lot of different things,” Patrick noted. “We waited, and we waited, and we waited, and then Todd got word that the commissioner said the WNBA PR staff said she is not allowed to do this. You’re the commissioner, and you’re listening to the PR department, which is fine, but did you check with PR before you said yes to us?
“We promoted it all day yesterday. Look, I know people get busy, people have agendas. It was her opportunity to finally say, ‘You can ask me the tough questions.’ I thought this was going to be a good thing for the WNBA. Because people still want answers here. There’s so many people who have an opinion, agendas…and yes, would the questions be tough? Yes. Yes. And I’m sure that had something to do with it.”
Yikes. That’s not a great look for Engelbert or the WNBA. And it appears that the league is yet again embroiled in a controversy of its own making.