During marquee WNBA events such as the upcoming All-Star weekend in Chicago, the commissioner typically stages a press conference where she addresses the media regarding hot-button topics regarding the W.
Cathy Engelbert also does this circa the Finals. One can affectionately refer to these as her State of the W addresses.
In addition to looking ahead to the glitz and glamour that All-Star weekend has evolved into, there is always plenty of intrigue as to what the commissioner may decide to address in her press conference. There is also plenty of intrigue as to what Engelbert may be asked about.
Here are five issues that may be mentioned when the commissioner takes to the stage at United Center.
Online Abuse
This is obviously a serious one.
Online abuse directed towards players is becoming a topic once again in WNBA circles. The most recent instance of this was when the Las Vegas Aces’ Chelsea Gray was the target of racist abuse by an online provocateur.
The person was later revealed to be an employee of Hilton International – and the person was subsequently fired by the company as it was a response to the negative PR it was receiving.
This was also an issue surrounding the Phoenix Mercury following the Alyssa Thomas-Caitlin Clark incident where Thomas’ fist made contact with Clark’s neck. A report from The Athletic also revealed that DeWanna Bonner has also been the target of racist abuse.
There is reportedly a meeting planned on Tuesday between Engelbert and WNBPA luminaries on Tuesday to address this. Apparently, racism is not the only factor in what is going on – sports gambling appears to be as well.
Getting Cities to Bid on All-Star
Including this year, five of the last seven All-Star weekends will have taken place in either Chicago or Las Vegas.
In fact, it was reported that the WNBA itself had to pitch Indianapolis to host last year’s All-Star weekend because there were no bidders.
As the game is growing, one would think that hosting a marquee event on the WNBA calendar like All-Star weekend would draw more interest from teams.
There are plenty of cities that lately have not hosted All-Star weekend. Those include established WNBA cities like New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. The New York Liberty have hosted All-Star in the past but not since the sale to Clara Wu Tsai and Joe Tsai took place. Los Angeles and Atlanta have never hosted All-Star weekend. One wonders what has to be done to incentivize more cities to host.
Playoff Expansion
Expansion has been one of the hottest topics in WNBA circles lately. This not only pertains to the upcoming expansion franchises arriving in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030) but also the addition of developmental spots to rosters.
One has to wonder if there is another type of expansion on the horizon – expansion of the playoffs. Considering that an 18-team WNBA will be a reality by the start of the next decade, one wonders if the W will follow the lead of other sports and add more and more teams to its postseason.
Our guess is we would not be surprised if in the next few years the result would be the WNBA expanding its playoffs to 12 teams. Possibly the top four teams earn byes to the second round – similar to the playoff format we used to see in the NFL.
Referees
Of course, it appears every season that the officiating of games becomes an issue.
While some want the narrative to be that the referees are failing to protect Clark from hard hits, the reality is more nuanced.
The reality of the situation is that every official will call a game differently. What could be a foul to one referee may not be a foul to another referee. In addition, officials are human beings at the end of the day. They will not get every call correct – hence why there is replay.
The topic of officiating comes up at almost every commissioner’s press conference – and we expect for this week’s with Engelbert to be no different.
WNBA at 30
Of course, this is a chance to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the WNBA.
In the early days of the W, it was a real question as to if the league would make it to 30 years.
Engelbert will likely mention something about the league’s success in making it to year number 30 – and looking ahead to the next 30 years.
What will the WNBA look like in 30 years? After all, there are players that have yet to be born yet that will be in the W in 30 years. One can expect the WNBA to go through several commissioners over the next 30 years. Hearing what Engelbert has to say about what the future of the W resembles from both an on-court and a business perspective will be intriguing to listen to this Saturday night.
