Sophie Cunningham Gets Blunt About What Must Change With WNBA Leadership

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham didn't mince words about the hottest topic in the WNBA community.

Jun 7, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Injured Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) and guard Caitlin Clark (22) react from the bench during the first half of a WNBA game against the Chicago Sky at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Imagesp | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The women's basketball community is still reeling over what Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier relayed when speaking about a conversation she had with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert earlier this year.

When addressing the media on September 30, Collier said, "I also asked [Engelbert] how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin [Clark], Angel [Reese], and Paige [Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little for their first four years. Her response was, 'Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn't make anything.'

"And in that same conversation, [Engelbert] told me, 'Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars, for the media right deal that I got them.' That's the mentality driving our league from the top," Collier added.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, center, addresses female student-athletes during a Cleveland WNBA event celebrating the return of professional women’s basketball to Ohio, Sept. 16, 2025, at Rocket Arena, in Cleveland. | Andrew Dolph / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham took exception to these alleged comments from Engelbert, which she revealed in several comments to an Instagram post on October 1.

"people only know Cathy because of C…. She’s the most delusional leader our league has seen," Cunningham wrote in one comment.

She continued with her sentiment through another comment that read, "AND IT SHOULDN’T EVER BE ABOUT OUR COMMISSIONER IN THE FIRST PLACE."

SOPHIE 😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/eDGMeSly62

— correlation (@nosyone4) September 30, 2025

Sophie Cunningham Expands on WNBA Leadership Comments

The Fever team and staff's exit interviews are taking place on October 2. And when it was Cunningham's turn to speak, she expanded on her sentiments.

"I'm just tired of our league... Our leadership from top to bottom needs to be held accountable... I think there are a lot of people in position of power in the WNBA who, they might be really great business people, but they don't know s*** about basketball," Cunningham said, per an X post from Alexa Philippou of ESPN.

Sophie Cunningham: "I'm just tired of our league... Our leadership from top to bottom needs to be held accountable... I think there are a lot of people in position of power in the WNBA who, they might be really great business people, but they don't know shit about basketball."

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) October 2, 2025

Scott Agness added another quote from Cunningham, where she said, "Not really a fan of leadership in the W. I feel like they are failing us, definitely failing us as players. Everything Napheesa said, we back her."

More Cunningham: "Not really a fan of leadership in the W. I feel like they are failing us, definitely failing us as players. Everything Napheesa said, we back her."

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) October 2, 2025

Cunningham is not alone with this sentiment, as many other players and members of the media have expressed their disgust with Elgelbert's comments.

There's beginning to be a feeling that Engelbert's time as WNBA commissioner could be ending relatively soon, given that just about everybody seems to think the league would be in a better place if somebody else assumed her prominent position.