Caitlin Clark is being failed by WNBA and it’s time for a new commissioner to rescue women’s basketball savior

Cathy Engelbert is failing Caitlin Clark.

Engelbert is also failing to properly promote and govern women’s basketball, which means that it’s time for the WNBA to find a new commissioner.

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“I have come to know Caitlin really well,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said at the Game Plan Summit.

“She’s an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. She has become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it’s incredibly unfair to her.”

Let’s just get this out of the way right now, before we go any further.

When the commissioner of the NBA is spending his time publicly taking up for the biggest name in the WNBA, women’s basketball has a serious problem.

Which means that Engelbert has an even bigger problem, and it’s hard to see how the WNBA advances without finding a new commissioner.

Video after video showed Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas pushing her fist into Clark’s throat while the Indiana Fever guard was on the ground.

But it took Silver stepping up for the WNBA to even suspend Thomas for a single game, according to the Sports Business Journal.

The drama, politics and social media fury surrounding Clark has become so thick that it’s now hard to separate truth from fiction.

That’s another serious problem for the WNBA, which has failed to capitalize on the most popular player in league history.

There is the WNBA before Clark and after.

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But at this moment in WNBA history, the one thing that is almost universally agreed upon is that in-game officiating has become a daily joke — especially when Clark is on the hardwood.

Cue the intrusion of Silver, who’s been forced to take over in a ‘Godfather’ role and effectively tell Engelbert to clean up the WNBA’s mounting mess.

“I don’t even think it’s fair to her (Clark) that this has become a separate storyline about one foul,” Silver said.

He added: “Do we need to improve WNBA officiating? No doubt about it.”

The NBA never did this to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.

Major League Baseball wouldn’t allow pitchers to continually throw at Shohei Ohtani in the box — or allow batters to charge the mound and attack MLB‘s biggest international name.

Christian Pulisic ended up as a let down during the 2026 World Cup. But he was promoted and re-promoted by USMNT, US Soccer and FOX Sports throughout a summer run that changed the future of a rising sport in the USA.

But Clark has been a lightning rod in the WNBA from day one, even though she’s a 6ft and 157lb shooting guard who specializes in draining 3-pointers far away from the basket.

TV ratings, ticket sales and merchandise purchases have significantly increased in the WNBA since Clark entered the league — Angel Reese never could have done that by herself.

But everything from race and politics to jealously and old-school WNBA bias have played factors in the love-her or hate-her Clark divide.

Thomas has also seen the flip side of the hate, after receiving death threats.

“The vitriol and everything that our players receive … is unacceptable,” Engelbert said. “But there’s so much good in the game.”

Ultimately, this is on Engelbert’s inability to govern and promote the WNBA at an elite level after Clark became the No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 draft.

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She was supposed to change the league, become a unifying superstar and lift women’s basketball to a new level across the globe.

Two years ago, Reese vs Clark was the hottest new rivalry in American sports.

Clark is averaging career highs in points (19.7) and field-goal percentage (42.1) this season, and already has two All-Star selections to go with a Rookie of the Year award and All-WNBA honors.

She’s doing her part.

But when the rest of the sports world constantly hears about poor officiating in women’s basketball and a clenched fist to Clark’s throat, the WNBA is going backward in 2026.

Silver being forced to fix the WNBA’s problems is proof that Engelbert isn’t doing the job right.