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WNBA’s Cathy Engelbert plays gender card when asked about her future at draft

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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been under the spotlight for about a year as she navigated the league through a stressful collective bargaining agreement before the start of the 2026 season.

Engelbert addressed the media Monday night as the WNBA Draft was set to take place. She raised eyebrows among reporters and fans on social media with a response to a tough question she received.

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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaking at the WNBA basketball draft in New York

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks at the WNBA basketball draft in New York on April 13, 2026. (Pamela Smith/AP)

She was asked about her future as commissioner and responded by playing the gender card.

“I do crack up how everybody’s focused on me, and you should be focused on the hundreds of amazing women and thousands of women who run this league outside of myself,” she said, via USA Today. “I appreciate that you’re focused on me as well. I wonder if you would ask that of a man, by the way, but I realize as women we get asked different questions than men do.”

AZZI FUDD GOES NO 1 IN WNBA DRAFT TO WINGS, REUNITES WITH PAIGE BUECKERS WITH HISTORIC $500K SALARY

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaking at a podium.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks before the WNBA basketball draft in New York on April 13, 2026. (Pamela Smith/AP)

Some social media users, including columnist Jemele Hill, agreed that she would have gotten the same question if she were a man.

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Engelbert is in an exclusive club of female commissioners of professional sports. Jessica Berman is the commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League. Meanwhile, commissioners in every other league face tough questions during their own press conferences in key points of the year.

But Engelbert received the brunt of the criticism going into CBA negotiations. The players called on the league to pay its players more in a demonstration during the WNBA All-Star Game.

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier blasted WNBA as having the “worst leadership” at the end of the 2025 season.

Still, Engelbert is still the commissioner of the WNBA through the latest CBA. She added Monday night that the CBA still needs to be finalized.

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She also said the league was looking ahead to the future and hoped the league would be able to take the WNBA overseas whether it’s a regular-season or exhibition game.

UCLA center Lauren Betts posing with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert

UCLA center Lauren Betts poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics in the first round of the WNBA draft in New York on April 13, 2026. (Pamela Smith/AP)

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“We’re heavily looking at that,” Engelbert said. “Obviously this year we have the FIBA World Cup. Next year we expect that we’ll do something outside of North America as a true global game.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Charlotte Flair claims current WWE rivals have an “extremely bright future”

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Charlotte Flair recently claimed that her current rivals in WWE have a bright future in the company. The veteran is on the SmackDown roster and is in an alliance with Alexa Bliss.

Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid are known as the Fatal Influence faction in WWE. The trio was recently called up to the main roster and has already made an impact on SmackDown.

Speaking on ESPN’s First Take, Charlotte Flair praised Fatal Influence and suggested that they were destined to become major stars on the promotion’s main roster.

“So here’s the thing, nobody likes to lose even if it’s a three on one scenario. But I think Jacy Jayne, Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley have a extremely bright future. But being that I’m a 14 time women’s champion, I have lost 13 times. So I’ve come back stronger every time and we either we win or we lose or we either we win or we learn. So that’s the thing,” she said. (H/T: Fightful on X)

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You can check out the veteran’s full appearance on First Take in the video below:

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Jacy Jayne defeated Charlotte Flair in a singles match this past Friday on SmackDown. Flair and Alexa Bliss also came up short in the Fatal 4-Way match for the Women’s Tag Team Championships at WWE WrestleMania 42.

Paige replaced an injured Nikki Bella at The Show of Shows and won the Women’s Tag Team Championships at The Show of Shows. Brie Bella and Paige successfully defended the titles against Lash Legend and Nia Jax last week on the blue brand.

Major WWE star discusses her relationship with Charlotte Flair

Becky Lynch recently commented on her relationship with Charlotte Flair and noted that trying to get a top spot in WWE negatively impacted their friendship.

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In an interview with Vulture, the Women’s Intercontinental Champion noted that striving for success impacted her friendship with Flair, but added that it was the nature of the wrestling business.

“Yeah, badly. Yeah, poorly, poorly. And look, I suppose that as well, the business, you know, and you’ve got two very competitive women who want to be at the top of the industry,” Lynch said.

Becky Lynch names her Greatest rivals in WWE: • Charlotte Flair • Bianca Belair • Lita She also mentioned Lyra Valkyria and Maxxine Dupri are the ones she really enjoyed working recently (@ChrisVanVliet)

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Fatal Influence in the promotion.