“There’s relationship issues as well. I’m confident we can fix those over time.” That’s Adam Silver’s way of toning down the actual issues and making it look more like a human-to-human relationship. But for all of Cathy Engelbert’s faults, one thing she has done well is stay diplomatic, even for players. Appreciate on camera, credit for the rise, so it isn’t a problem with her and the players in general (can minus Napheesa Collier for now), but with how the league reacts to the players’ well-being. Still, with all the attention, expect an action.

So, when ‘We Need To Talk’ hosts Alicia Jay, Terrika Foster-Brasby, and Ty Carter recently analyzed the stories in the WNBA, Silver’s comments caught attention. Touching base on the Cathy Engelbert-Napheesa Collier issue, Foster-Brasby stated that “If you look at Adam Silver’s comments, he said there’s relationship issues that we need to fix with our players. He didn’t say there’s an issue that we need to fix with our commissioner.”

No matter how every headline portrays it, the issue is the CBA, and everything else is noise. Pay the players, and everything vanishes overnight. Foster-Brasby also pointed out that “he didn’t say there’s a problem that we need to discuss between both the commissioner and the players. Said there’s an issue that we need to fix with our players.” Adam Silver might simply have mentioned only what was the priority at the moment. However…

“So to me (Terrika), it sounds like he is behind Cathy Engelbert, and probably doesn’t want to see her remain as commissioner. So it will be interesting to see what this dynamic eventually looks like.” There is no denying that the WNBA commissioner is not getting much love from the WNBA world at the moment. Sophie Cunningham, Caitlin Clark’s teammate, took to Instagram after Collier’s comments went viral and wrote, “Cathy’s the most delusional leader our league has seen.”

Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers publicly threw their support behind Napheesa Collier, and so did Clark’s coach Stephanie White. She defended her star player by saying, “I feel like she’s a 23-year-old kid who loves to play this game who is a pawn in a lot of other people’s games, and a lot of other people’s narratives – and I hate that for her.” With so many popular voices speaking out against the commissioner, it wouldn’t be too crazy to think that a change might be in the air.

‘The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson II recently reported that anonymous WNBA and NBA sources have claimed that the controversy around Cathy Engelbert “might accelerate a change that was already coming”. It wasn’t that long ago when a report from the Sports Business Journal stated that Engelbert would likely exit as commissioner after the CBA negotiations are complete. However, the WNBA commissioner herself denied the rumors by stating, “Obviously, I’ve never been a quitter. I’m entering my 40th year, actually, this month in business. Never been a quitter, never shied away from tough situations.”

If Cathy Engelbert is certainly on the guillotine, then that would affect the commissioner’s mindset further. It wasn’t as if she was already visibly not taking the controversy well.

WNBA Reporter revealed Cathy Engelbert dealing with an ‘uncomfortable’ moment

A few days ago, ‘WNBA on NBC’ hosts Natalie Esquire and Megan L. Hall discussed Cathy Engelbert’s presser in which she addressed the allegations made against her. Hall, who was among the reporters at the presser, said the commissioner should have expected some questions about Collier’s allegations. After all, as the reporter highlighted, “I was looking at her body language and she looked very uncomfortable answering these questions.”

Though Engelbert would have seemed normal to an unfazed observer, Hall spoke as if she emerged from the BBC series ‘Sherlock’. “There were moments where Cathy Engelbert was just looking down at the ground, listening to these questions, and like seemingly waiting to get her answers for them. I…. So to me, I…. I wasn’t quite convinced that she was fully digesting what was happening,” said Hall.

If what Megan said is true, then this means that the Minnesota Lynx star’s allegations have greatly affected the WNBA commissioner. Furthermore, it didn’t help that when Hall asked the commissioner a question about whether the WNBA would enter a lockout if a deal is not agreed upon, she said, “Yeah, that’s a great question, right?”. That’s it.

If Cathy Engelbert wishes to avoid Adam Silver’s actions, then she had better do something quickly. Whether that happens in the coming days or not remains to be seen.