Cathy Engelbert took the WNBA to a level only a few could have imagined when she walked through the door in 2019. Seven years later, the league is bigger, richer, and louder than ever. Yet as she prepares to leave, the question surrounding her successor is not simply who can keep the growth going. It is who can navigate the tensions that came with it better. So with Engelbert on her way out, several media personalities have already weighed in on who could take over the league.

For Christine Brennan, the author of On Her Game: Caitlin Clark, there is one obvious quality she wants the next commissioner to have: a willingness to embrace Clark’s impact rather than shy away from it.

“With the news that Cathy Engelbert is retiring as WNBA commissioner (scoop by @alexaphilippou), there now is a great opportunity to bring in a commissioner who acknowledges the obvious (Clark’s greatness and popularity) and doesn’t try to minimize or hide it. Hire that person,” Brennan wrote on X.

In her tenure, Cathy Engelbert has been at the center of several controversies. From her relationship with players to her handling of incidents such as the Alyssa Thomas situation, she has faced plenty of scrutiny. But perhaps one of the biggest talking points surrounding her leadership has been how she handled Caitlin Clark, one of the biggest stars in the league.

For many, Engelbert failed to do enough to protect Clark as the physicality around the Fever star continued to increase. In 2025, WNBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations brought another major point of tension.

During a private conversation about player salaries, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier alleged that Engelbert said Clark and other players “should be on their knees” in gratitude for the WNBA platform as players demanded better pay. So it’s not hard to see where Brennan is coming from. But veteran sports analyst Skip Bayless sees the Clark factor differently, as he argued that it is precisely what makes the WNBA commissioner’s job so difficult.

“I wouldn’t wish the WNBA commissioner job on anybody. This league is dangerously divided: Every other star vs Caitlin Clark, who has put this league on the sports map, made it relevant – while being repaid with only jealousy and resentment from the other stars,” Bayless wrote on X.

Whether that characterization is fair or not, it underscores the challenge waiting for Cathy Engelbert’s replacement. The next commissioner will inherit a league growing faster than ever while also working to rebuild trust with its players.

So, let’s take a look at who could take over.

Bethany Donaphin may have the clearest path from inside the league. As the WNBA’s head of league operations, she has effectively operated as a second-in-command despite the league not having a formal deputy commissioner. She has spent more than a decade working across the NBA and WNBA, which gives her both institutional knowledge and an understanding of the league’s rapidly changing landscape.

Another name in the hat is Swin Cash, who brings something Donaphin cannot: the perspective of someone who has actually played in the WNBA. A three-time champion and four-time All-Star, Cash has also spent six years as a senior executive with the New Orleans Pelicans. So with player-management relations likely to be one of the next commissioner’s biggest challenges, her experience on both sides of the basketball world makes her an especially compelling option.

Then there is Sarah Mensah, who could be the outside-business candidate with perhaps the strongest combination of basketball and corporate experience. The Jordan Brand president has held multiple leadership positions at Nike and previously spent nearly two decades with the Portland Trail Blazers.

But Cathy Engelbert herself has made clear that the search will not simply be a matter of handing the job to an obvious internal successor.

“We’ll run a real succession process in the remaining four months. If we don’t find someone, I’ll stay on,” she told The Associated Press. “I had no transition. I walked in the door, and I was by myself as no one transitioned me into this role. Hopefully I can help this next leader transition in, especially considering the elevation of this league.”

Whoever will be the next commissioner, they will have to figure out how to turn the growth this league has seen into something the players feel equally invested in.

“It’ll be interesting to see who wants to step up for this role now. Many have probably watched from the outside believing they could do better. Others might want assurance that there’s a clear role, independent of Silver & the NBA,” Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Sarah Spain wrote.

Cathy Engelbert will step down from her role at the end of this year, leaving the WNBA to begin a new chapter under a commissioner who could shape where the league goes next.