As a player, Becky Hammon was a part of the first generation of WNBA stars that allowed the league to get to where it is almost 30 years later. Now, Hammon coaches the best player in the league and a modern-day dynasty. She has experienced many of the ups and downs of women’s basketball and can now add the most important CBA negotiation in the history of the league to the list.
While Hammon isn’t directly involved in the negotiations, the outcome will affect her just as much as everyone else. If there is a strike or a lockout, she won’t be able to do her job. If player salaries skyrocket and rules about coring are adjusted, the way teams build rosters may change. League leadership could also undergo a significant change. Hammon certainly expects it to.
In a November 12 interview with CNBC, Hammon doubted that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert can ever recover from the rift that has sprung up between her and the players. As a result, Hammon said, “I would say they’re probably going to look for a change in leadership. I just think it might be too fractured at this point.”
After everything that’s happened, it wouldn’t be very surprising to see Cathy Engelbert go
It was no secret that the CBA negotiations had hit a few bumps even during the 2025 season. Players wore t-shirts that said “Pay us what you owe us” during the All-Star Game and received overwhelming support from fans. After that, things quickly got worse.
Minnesota Lynx star and WNBPA Vice President Napheesa Collier used her exit interview to call out Cathy Engelbert’s leadership. She publicly called Engelbert the “worst leadership in the world” and accused her of ignoring players’ complaints and not valuing their contributions. Collier detailed, for example, conversations in which Engelbert supposedly said only losers complained about referees, Caitlin Clark owes the WNBA for her many endorsement deals, and that players should be grateful for the media rights deal she negotiated. Engelbert denied making those comments about Clark and noted that there were a lot of “inaccuracies out there.”
Other players have widely backed Collier, including some of the biggest stars in the league. A’ja Wilson, for example, said she was “disgusted” by Engelbert’s comments.
Even if the WNBPA and the WNBA agree to a new CBA soon, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Engelbert vacate her post as commissioner. After such a public dispute, it seems impossible to repair the rift between her and the players despite some of the good Engelbert has achieved on the business side.