Over the last few weeks, Cathy Engelbert has come under a lot of fire, particularly in the aftermath of the Caitlin Clark-Alyssa Thomas incident. And amidst concerns over how the NBA is governed, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has added his voice to the discussion.

During the NBA Summer League news conference, Silver was asked whether or not the WNBA and the NBA board of governors have asked Engelbert about her future. Silver replied by praising Engelbert's work.

"I would only say I'm very pleased with where the WNBA is. We've made tremendous progress, you know, under her leadership over the last several years. Um, again, this season, we're off again to a very strong start."

Under Engelbert, the WNBA reached new highs, with viewership in September hitting a 27-year high with 969,000 average viewers during a nationally televised game. That trend continued into 2026, as viewership numbers stayed above 1 million during certain games even with the USA hosting the soccer World Cup.

But that's not all. Under Engelbert, the league and the players entered into a new collective bargaining agreement, a deal consisted of an increase in the salary cap from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million, with average salaries also exceeding $583,000.

"As I said, I think Kathy continues to do a strong job, you know, building that league," Silver continued, as seen in the video posted by News 3 Las Vegas. "And then, you know, we'll have ongoing discussions about what the future looks like."

Engelbert has come a long way. She was the first-ever person to hold the "commissioner" title, given to a WNBA head, appointed on July 17, 2019, and has served seven years in the league as commissioner to date. And in the last few years, under Engelbert, the league has elevated itself to another level.

And for Engelbert, Silver's praise comes at the right time, especially following the controversy around Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas.

How Adam Silver helped Engelbert navigate controversy.

On June 24, in the Phoenix Mercury win over the Indian Fever 111-109, Thomas pushed her fist through Clark's throat and stepped over her while trying to stand up in the second quarter.

After the game, the WNBA reviewed the play and gave Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension. And per Sports Business Journal, Silver advised Engelbert to do so.

"Silver did not address his role in the Thomas suspension Tuesday. But sources familiar with the situation said Engelbert initially believed during the evaluation process that -- because no foul was called on the court against Thomas -- a follow-up suspension seemed too steep of a discipline. Meanwhile, those same sources said Silver believed there was clear evidence of a flagrant foul, that he felt badly for Clark and told Engelbert she had to act," read the report from Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal.

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Written by

Dhruv Singh

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar