Chicago Crowd Captures Attention With Their Treatment of Cathy Engelbert as Sources Predict 2026 Could Be Her Final Season

Azzi Fudd made history by becoming the first rookie to win the WNBA’s 3-Point Contest on Friday night. While the Dallas Wings guard was celebrating her achievement, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who was also present, didn’t get a warm welcome. The reception coincides with ESPN’s Alexa Philippou revealing that multiple high-profile league sources have indicated Engelbert isn’t the person they’re looking at to lead the league once her contract expires.

“Lots of boos once Cathy Engelbert was introduced at Wintrust Arena. (Video only got the tail end.),” Front Office Sports reporter Colin Salao captioned his post with a clip from the All-Star Weekend.

Meanwhile, just ahead of the All-Star Weekend, Philippou wrote in her article that after talking to over 20 stakeholders, they all indicated that “she’s [Engelbert] not the right person to navigate the demands the league currently faces and what its stakeholders now need.”

With her contract with the league set to expire after this season, the consensus among Philippou’s sources “who spoke on the condition of anonymity” is that 2026 will be the last year for Engelbert as the WNBA commissioner.

Ever since Napheesa Collier called her out over the delayed CBA negotiations, there has rarely been a time when Engelbert has caught a break. She has been criticised over officiating, players’ safety, and her reactive approach to crises like the Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark controversy.

Even when she got the opportunity to address the concerns around her by appearing on Dan Patrick’s show, she pulled out.

“I do think Cathy thinks, well, she’s done her job. She got us financially set up the right way. It’s the other pieces that we’re talking about,” a team executive told Philippou.

These “other pieces” are one of the biggest concerns among people around the league, especially when it comes to Cathy Engelbert’s connection with the players, teams, and the moments that define the WNBA.

Now, her absence from some of the league’s most important celebrations this season only fueled those concerns. She missed the Sparks-Liberty game commemorating the WNBA’s first-ever matchup and was also absent from the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony honoring some of the league’s biggest figures.

“I think Cathy’s ultimate Achilles’ heel will be just relationships, or lack of, with a lot of key stakeholders … In that role, you need to be able to build strong relationships and give and take, and I think she really struggled with that,” a WNBA team executive told ESPN.

Meanwhile, Engelbert remains determined to continue leading toward further growth. “I’ve never been a quitter. I’m not gonna shy away,” she said in October 2025, and that mindset hasn’t changed.

“It’s easy to lead in good times,” she told ESPN last week. “Where leaders really emerge in my experience … is when you’re your best in your darkest moments, and you don’t give up.”

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