Sophie Cunningham Floats Surprising Future as WNBA Commissioner
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham is among the most critical active players of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Cunningham has put Engelbert on blast several times in the past. One example is during an October 2 episode of her Show Me Something podcast, where Cunningham said, At the end of the day, [Elgelbert is] worried about her. In all of her [alleged] statements, it's like, 'Well, I got us here, and I should... Cathy: No one cares. Literally no one cares."
Given this scathing criticism of Engelbert and the league office as a whole, it's hard to imagine that Cunningham would be keen to enter the business side of the league after her playing career ended.
Sophie Cunningham Reveals Unexpected WNBA Commissioner Ambition
However, it appears that Cunningham could see a future for herself in Engelbert's shoes, which she conveyed during a February 3 episode of Show Me Something.
When Cunningham was asked by her co-host, West Wilson, what she would fix if she were the WNBA commissioner for a day, she said, "So here's my thing. And I think maybe I'm speaking this into existence, people are probably gonna make fun of me, but I have seen the league when it hasn't had this [CBA frustration], and I'm in the process of seeing where this thing could be. And I think that I truly do, I'm learning the business, I'm learning the sport.
"I think that one day, it would be so fun to be the commissioner," she added.
"Let me say this: And I know that is a tough job, and I know that there's probably a lot more that goes on behind the scenes. And I get that. But I also think that when you are collaborative, and you want the product to be successful, you find a way to put people first," Cunningham continued.
"And that doesn't mean you're always going to align and agree. But I think if you do it in a certain way, where people know that you care, and it's about them and not about you, that you can make a successful business," she added.
Sophie Cunningham on (genuinely) wanting to be the #wnba commissioner in the future pic.twitter.com/RnTGjM81JZ
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) February 3, 2026
There's still a lot that needs to happen before Cunningham could potentially become the WNBA Commissioner, especially because she would seem to have at least several more years in her playing career ahead.
But perhaps there's a future where Cunningham takes over Engelbert's job. One would imagine that she'd be a player-friendly leader.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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