WNBA in crisis: 20 sagas and scandals on and off the court

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Growing pains, culture clashes, millions of dollars injected into the ecosystem, honest and powerful superstars, record viewership, a dozen of Australia’s best women’s basketballers and head coach right in the middle of it all.

That’s the WNBA in 2026.

The world’s best professional league has been and remains in the midst of the most seismic change in its 30-year history.

It starts at the top with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s future uncertain after this season.

The 61-year-old from New Jersey has been the boss since 2019 but is constantly under intense scrutiny and warranted criticism.

More fans are tuning in to watch WNBA games (724,000 average), players are being paid more than ever before, and social media is choosing sides – not just teams: Caitlin Clark vs “everyone; Sandy Brondello vs Angel Reese; Sophie Cunningham vs Cheryl Reeve; Paige Bueckers’ deleted video; and every player vs online gambling trolls.

And this isn’t the half of it. Exceptional and rapid growth is the dream of any commissioner, but it’s come at a cost and, at times, vitriol.

20 WNBA sagas, challenges and issues

1. October 2025. Napheesa Collier's end-of-season interview: Engelbert is "negligent" in her governance, and the WNBA has "the worst leadership in the world". A slew of players publicly backed her. ESPN calls it the first time Engelbert's strained relationships have erupted in public. Everything in 2026 is a continuation of this, not something new.

2. March 2026. The CBA is ratified and, in ESPN's words, "seemed to at least temporarily patch up matters". Ogwumike to CNBC: "We're standing here with you, Cathy." At the April 13 draft, Engelbert dismissed the earlier criticism as "a lot of posturing". Four months later it is all back.

3. June 22. Fever v Mercury, two nights before the throat incident. Six technical fouls and an ejection. Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White later said she could not believe the officials had not reined in the physicality after that game. It lit the fuse …

4. June 24. Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas makes contact with her fist to Clark's throat with 6:52 left in the second quarter. She also appeared to knee Clark in the groin in the same play, then stepped over her. No foul was called White said in the post-game: "We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called ... The fist in the throat is crazy. It's crazy. It's dangerous." Also called the non-call "egregious" and "utterly disrespectful". Clark left in the third quarter with a back injury. Fever president Kelly Krauskopf issued a statement demanding player safety be "paramount". The Phoenix then claimed the suspension was decided off social media screenshots. Thomas was given a Flagrant 2 and a one-game suspension on review, the league deeming it a "non-basketball act".

5. .Influence, right or wrong: Sources told Sports Business Journal NBA commissioner Adam Silver pushed Engelbert to suspend Thomas, and that she had not intended to. The WNBA commissioner was overruled by her own boss on the defining discipline call of the season, and it leaked a week before All-Star Break. Team owners have leaked frustrations over Engelbert’s stewardship.

6. June 30. Engelbert is booed through the Commissioner's Cup trophy presentation at Barclays Center. Australian stars Rebecca Allen and Anneli Maley are part of the Liberty team, along with Geelong Venom recruit Han Xu. ESPN said the response was "so relentless that some players standing behind her looked a little stunned". On the same day, Thomas publicly denounced her. Reporters who asked to speak to Engelbert were given a four-sentence statement instead.

“The Commissioner’s Cup in-season tournament has become a premier tentpole series on the WNBA calendar because it offers elite competition showcasing conference matchups, high-calibre play, and meaningful community impact,” Engelbert said. “As we celebrate the WNBA’s 30th season, ‘Our Game, Our Legacy’ shines a light on the organisations and community leaders – from longstanding team partners to groups helping our newest teams build roots in their communities – who have helped shape the identity and impact of WNBA teams over time. Together with Coinbase, the players and teams, the WNBA is proud to continue using the power of sport to create lasting impact beyond the game.”‍

7. July 12 to 15. Chelsea Gray. After the Aces' 109-75 loss to Indiana, Gray, 33, posts a screenshot of a racial slur sent to her on Instagram: "People act like we just make this s--- up." Hilton Grand Vacations identifies and fires the employee by July 14. Gray on July 15: "Enough is kind of enough ... The hate directed at me and so many other Black athletes is one of the many ways systemic racism shows up in our lives." The Aces "unequivocally condemn" it.‍

8. Online abuse: Not all of it is about identity. Minnesota guard Courtney Williams said the messages she received blamed her for a lost prop bet, in comments reported by CBS News. That is a different problem with a different sender, and it is not one the league has spoken to. When Engelbert set out what players were enduring in July, she named racism, misogyny, homophobia, harassment and threats. She did not mention gambling.

9. July 8. US Republican representatives write to Engelbert citing "unnecessary physical hostility and violence" toward Clark and demanding she account for workplace safety. In a two-page response, Engelbert answered that the league's "top priority is the health, safety, and well-being of every player in our league, including Caitlin Clark." The lawmakers said it was not enough. Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, who led the letter, said the response "falls short" and that he keeps every option on the table. Rep. Mark Alford has since floated the potential of a Department of Justice investigation.

10. Mid-July. Engelbert agrees to a Dan Patrick interview, then no-shows, while playing in a celebrity golf tournament. Patrick ran B-roll of her chipping out of a bunker while criticising her. Small, but it is the "where are you" charge made visual, in the same week as the Congressional letter.

11. July 17. Brondello, 57, calls Angel Reese a "protected species" within mic range, seconds after her own player went down injured. One-game suspension, served July 20. Apology July 18. Reese: a clown emoji and "ARE WE SURPRISED?!", then on July 19, "I appreciate Sandy's apology ... I am grateful that the league did take action."

12. July 21. Engelbert and WNBPA leadership meet over what the league called "recent increase in racist, hateful, and abusive messages directed at players". The players asked for the meeting after the Clark and Thomas incident. Engelbert said afterwards: "What too many players have experienced is unacceptable. The racism, the misogyny, the homophobia, the harassment, and threats directed to our players have no place in sport or anywhere else. This is their workplace."

13. July 21. ESPN publishes an interview with Sophie Cunningham, 29, on the exclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sport. The next day Cunningham responded to the controversy with "I said what I said."

14. July 25, All-Star Saturday, Chicago. Engelbert's midseason press conference. She announces the Replay Centre at "tens of millions of dollars", says she is "so blessed to be at the helm", and refuses to answer directly on 2027. She was asked whether the WNBA needs a Rooney Rule (a hiring policy requiring teams to interview diverse candidates); she didn’t answer and instead pointed at owners and GMs. 2026 is only the third time in the league's 30-year history without a Black woman head coach.

14. July 26 – All-Star weekend itself. Chicago hosted and became the first host club in league history with no All-Star in the game. Angel Reese returned to Chicago as an Atlanta All-Star. Yahoo Sport reported this year's All-Star "drips with more angst and vitriol" than last year's, even when players wore "Pay Us What You Owe Us".

15. July 28 – Climate Pledge Arena: Indiana Fever 105, Seattle Storm 95. Seattle's seventh straight loss, and they were 6-24. It was Cunningham's first game since the ESPN interview. A crowd of a few dozen were outside for two things at once: to back Cunningham, and to promote Washington ballot initiative IL26-638, which would bar transgender students from girls' athletics at the state's K-12 schools, going to voters in November. Some wore T-shirts printed with XX and XY chromosomes. Some then went inside. Counter-signs reading "No Hate in Washington State". Cunningham booed twice over, when she checked in and again at her first free throws. Caitlin Clark went to greet her after a basket. Two teenage girls, courtside, holding a sign that read "Thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls". Celeste Keaton, a Storm minority co-owner, approached them. Multiple reports say she cursed at them. Majority owner Ginny Gilder said: "We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night's game. We apologise that this happened. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome."

16. July 30. Keaton fined and suspended five home games. Cunningham post on X: "I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind. Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You'll be hearing from me soon. Yay for gifts. Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately, shows the type of leader she is."

17. July 31 and August 2. Booing follows the Fever to Portland with transgender flags in the crowd; rallies follow to Minneapolis.

18. Officiating. Task force, freedom of movement, penalties more than doubled. Fouls 17.5 a game last season to more than 22. The Athletic reported on July 6 that coaches and GMs from eight clubs say officiating remains subpar and needs more resources and accountability. Engelbert's defence is that the other numbers went the right way, scoring, field goals made, field goal percentage and offensive rating all at all-time highs, and that the extra fouls are the freedom of movement the players asked for.

19. Injuries. 178 injuries, 644 games lost, worst since The IX started counting in 2023. Knees: 283 of those. The WNBA is expanding to 50 games from 2027 under the new CBA.

20. The commissioner. Engelbert's contract expires at the end of this season. More than 20 stakeholders have described her as "dismissive", "condescending", "out of touch", plus "not personable" and "defensive". She missed the 30th-anniversary game (at the US Open in Southampton). She missed the Hall of Fame induction but has offered to meet Thomas; multiple people close to it say they still have not spoken.

The WNBA is at a crossroads, firmly at the intersection of women’s sport, diversity and inclusion, player welfare, increased scrutiny, unprecedented popularity, and pay packets.

But with that comes accountability from both the league and players. They are today’s custodians of a “see it, be it” generation of young female athletes on the doorstep of an opportunity those before 1996 didn’t have and, for many in the league’s 30-year history, fought for.

Unsurprisingly, Australian Opals coach Brondello understands the stakes, and she apologised immediately for her inclusion on the above list.

“I wanted to put that out as soon as I woke up, and I reached out to them after the game,” Brondello said the morning after the game.

“I thought that was important to the GM and asking to speak to Angel cause she doesn't really know me very well.

“(I) have a ton of respect for her and wanted to make sure that, you know, it was a heated, it was an emotional statement, and it's a statement that's often, it's very common in Australia, and it wasn't directed at Angel. I'd never do that to any kind of player, and that's not the kind of coach I am or a player back in my day, and it was just unfortunate.

“Hopefully, you know, I've been in this league for 27 years and you obviously, I have never had any issues like this because, you know, these are all my teammates and I've learnt so much about the, from the black players that I've coached and that I've had on staff and, and I know I'm not racist.

“So it's a really unfortunate situation, but I really, I wanted to apologise when I, whenever Angel's ready, I have reached out to their organisation, and I'm very sincere cause I never want that to happen to anyone.

“I felt mad at myself because I'm a part of the solution, not the problem, and hopefully I can have that chat and she, she gets to know me and my heart.

"Everyone else that I've coached in this league, they know that and know what I'm about, and you know, I'll try to, you know, be better as I move forward.

“I did make a mistake, and I'll try and keep my Australian thing, Australianisms, I suppose, out, but it was never meant to be personal.

“So I am truly sorry, and hopefully she's doing okay.”

Where the WNBA goes from here will take strong leadership regardless of who is in the Commissioner’s chair. There are new expansion teams on the horizon along with larger audiences.

The noise is only going to get louder.