Sophie Cunningham provides blunt opinion on Cathy Engelbert's future as WNBA commissioner

There likely haven't been two figures across the WNBA this season more controversial than Sophie Cunningham and Cathy Engelbert.

While Cunningham has become one of the most vocal players in the league, criticism of the league as a whole has put pressure on Engelbert. From officiating issues to tension with the players, the WNBA commissioner's future has appeared murky at best.

Recently, Cunningham offered her opinion of Engelbert and whether she'll remain in her role for the long-term.

Here's what Cunningham said about Engelbert.

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Sophie Cunningham provides opinion on Cathy Engelbert's future in WNBA

In a recent interview with USA Today's Meghan L. Hall, Cunningham discussed her ascension as a public voice and plenty more. One of the topics the Fever guard acknowledged was WNBA leadership.

Per USA Today, Cunningham said, "Anyone in a position of power has a challenging job, but she believes new leadership might help the WNBA."

"You do have to have a person in power who is bold, who is confident, who wants the best for the players and not maybe for themselves all the time. So I do feel like, as a whole, that could be a position that's maybe open at the end of the year, but that's not my call," Cunningham said of Engelbert. "(Cathy Engelbert's) done a lot of good things, but with where our league is trying to go, I feel like you just want someone who also wants that.

That's just a hard position to be in, in her shoes, us as players ― we always want more, more, more because we see how good it can be, but ... that's up to Adam Silver at the end of the day."

Who chooses WNBA commissioner?

Because the NBA operates the WNBA, owning a controlling stake in the league, the NBA Board of Governors and NBA commissioner Adam Silver are in charge of recruiting and hiring a WNBA commissioner.

Prior to becoming WNBA commissioner, Engelbert was the first female CEO of a Big Four accounting firm at Deloitte. 

Engelbert was named the first commissioner of the WNBA in 2019.

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Will Cathy Engelbert step down?

For the time being, Engelbert has shown no indications that she has plans to step away from her role.

"I'm focused head-down on executing this highly, highly successful 30th season," Engelbert told ESPN in July. "I love this league. We're going to continue to drive the business. And don't worry about me. It's more about the team ... that's what we've built here at the W. So I'm really, really optimistic about where we're going in the future."

However, pressure on Engelbert has skyrocketed over recent years, including in the process of the WNBA's new CBA that began this season. In July, ESPN reported that "stakeholders in and around the league question whether commissioner Cathy Engelbert is the right person to lead it into the future."

In that story, sources also told ESPN that "they believe the 2026 season will likely be Engelbert's last."