Cathy Engelbert Opens Up About Online Abuse Before WNBA Retirement
· Yahoo Sports
Cathy Engelbert said the online abuse directed at her during her seven-plus years as WNBA commissioner has been hard on her family, in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Friday after the league announced her retirement.
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"There have been some hard parts of that on my family with the vitriol and hate I get online," Engelbert said.
Players have reported more social media abuse over the last few seasons, and some have said the league has not done enough to keep them safe. Engelbert has said repeatedly that the attacks on players are unacceptable and that she supports league programs meant to protect them.
Engelbert turns 62 in November. She is one of eight children and has two of her own.
"My mom is turning 90 this year, and she said that 'it would be good if you were retired to spend more time with me,'" Engelbert said, laughing. "I have two children, one I barely see.
"I'm one of eight kids (and I) have five brothers," Engelbert continued. "They always say can you retire so you can spend more time with us."
Engelbert told the AP she had considered retirement for months. She planned to serve three and a half years starting July 17, 2019, but stayed for seven and a half. Her decision was her own, with no pressure from NBA or WNBA stakeholders.
"I was brought in as a business leader to transform the business," Engelbert explained. "I look at revenue and merchandise, viewership and attendance. A great leader senses when it's time for someone else to come in. When I came in, this league was facing questions about our long-term viability and sustainability."
Before the WNBA, Engelbert spent four years as chief executive of Deloitte, the first woman to run one of the Big Four accounting firms in the United States. Deloitte had more than 100,000 employees when she was elected to the post by its partners in 2015, and revenue grew more than 30% during her term, according to the NBA's release when she was hired.
Engelbert graduated from Lehigh in 1986 with a degree in accounting. She played basketball there for Muffet McGraw, helped Lehigh win the East Coast Conference title her senior season, and captained both the basketball and lacrosse teams. Her father, Kurt Engelbert, was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1957.
The list of things she is proudest of, as she gave it to the AP, includes charter travel for players, keeping the league running through the 2020 pandemic season in Bradenton, Florida, the media rights deal, and the rise in franchise values. The average WNBA franchise was worth $10 million in 2019. In 2026, the figure is about $460 million.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made the announcement Friday. Engelbert had 12 franchises when she started and leaves with 15 playing and three more, in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, scheduled to arrive by 2030. The league's media rights deals now total $3.1 billion. She negotiated two collective bargaining agreements, in January 2020 and this past spring, and the second one produced the league's first million-dollar salaries.
She told the AP she has mixed emotions about leaving and will remain in the job past Dec. 31 if the league has not hired a successor by then. The league is considering candidates from inside and outside the office.
The league resumes play after the World Cup, with the playoffs starting later this month.