When Cathy Engelbert became the first-ever WNBA commissioner in 2019, she brought a corporate background as the former Deloitte CEO. Rather than basketball experience. Her goal was to grow the league with business savvy. However, it seems like not everyone’s sold on the results just yet. Especially Mercury forward Satou Sabally. She had some remarks on her leadership style after Mercury’s game against the storm.
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Even though Cathy Engelbert’s tenure as WNBA commissioner has brought some real wins. She helped pull together a game-changing $75 million investment round, got the season expanded to 44 games, and brought in new franchises like the Golden State Valkyries. Remember how big a deal it was when that 2020 CBA finally bumped up player pay? That happened on her watch.
We’ve seen some luxurious upgrades too. Charter flights finally became a reality, even though Sabrina Ionescu and some others are pushing for a fuller charter coverage. The league is worth nearly a billion bucks now, and partnerships with heavy hitters like Amazon and Google have definitely raised the WNBA’s profile. So what could Satou Sabally complain about? Know for yourself. She said “Cathy [Engelbert] added a lot of games… We had 9 games in 18 days. That’s not really responsible for a commissioner.”
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Satou Sabally on scheduling:
“Cathy [Engelbert] added a lot of games… We had 9 games in 18 days. That’s not really responsible for a commissioner.”
— Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) June 8, 2025
Well, it’s fair for a player to be frustrated by that because back-to-back games bring greater chances of injury, reduce recovery time, and lead to noticeable fatigue. Even according to sports medicine research, playing games with less than 48 hours between them increases the chance of soft tissue injuries by 22–40%. In the NBA as well, teams typically avoid scheduling more than 4 games per week, and even then, players often rest.
However, it’s not the first time that a team is going through it. Just last year, the Indiana Fever faced an even more brutal stretch than Satou Sabally’s Mercury. They played 11 games in 20 days, including multiple back-to-backs and three-games-in-four-nights sequences. That hectic schedule even coincided with Caitlin Clark’s debut. Now you might wonder why to rush through the games like that?
Key Reasons Behind Satou Sabally’s Frustration
The 2025 WNBA season’s brutal schedule crunch stems directly from the Paris Olympics’ unusual timing. Which is running July 26 through August 11, 2025 despite their “2024” branding. Naturally, to accommodate national team duties, the league had to carve out an unusual four-week midseason break. They were forced to squeeze what was already an expanded 44-game schedule (the longest in WNBA history) into fewer available dates.
The consequences? A ton of back-to-backs, and dangerously short recovery windows that players like Satou Sabally have openly criticized. This condensed calendar is elevating injury risks during what should be the league’s breakout year. Making matters worse, the WNBA’s hard-won business success is now working against player rest. Those shiny new broadcast deals with Amazon Prime, ESPN and CBS Sports demand prime-time slots and weekend showcases.
This leads to bending team schedules to TV’s needs. The issues haven’t ended just yet though. Venue logistics add another troublesome layer. As most clubs share arenas with NBA teams or concert venues the available dates get scarce real fast. It leads to grueling road trips. And with must-see talents like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese driving record interest, plus the buzz around expansion teams like the Golden State Valkyries, the league can’t afford to pump the brakes.
What you and I are seeing is the growing issues of a league that is caught between capitalizing on its moment and protecting the athletes that are making that moment possible. The WNBA’s 156 players are the heart of this rise, but as Sabally points out, their health can’t be an afterthought if the league wants to keep shining.
Written by
Edited by
Masaba Naqvi