The WNBA Stumbles Into Its All-Star Break

It Has Been 0 Days Without WNBA Drama

Jul 24, 2026

Welcome back to Club Sportico, where we discuss the intersection of sports and money—with some extra humor and opinion. Today we’re talking about stalled progress.

The champagne arrived at The Langham shortly after 1 a.m. on the morning of March 18. Inside a meeting room on the third floor of the Manhattan hotel, representatives for the WNBA and its players union were slowly inching toward a resolution in a labor fight that had threatened the start of their 2026 season—and potentially so much more.

About an hour later, the two sides shook hands on the framework of an agreement, then popped the cork. According to ESPN, commissioner Cathy Engelbert, union president Nneka Ogwumike and union vice president Alysha Clark all gave toasts.

“We’re proud of these players,” Engelbert told reporters camped outside just before 3 a.m., praising the group that had stood opposite her for months. “We think it’s a fair win-win deal for all, or we wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

In that moment, the WNBA appeared poised for transformational progress. Growth had been slow for much of the league’s first three decades, but everything changed over its last few seasons. The arrival of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese coincided with a surge in investment (and interest) in women’s sports more broadly. The league set attendance, viewership and revenue records in 2025. Team valuations more than tripled, virtually overnight.

And so the 2026 WNBA season kicked off in May with the league’s two biggest business priorities—labor peace and TV deals—both secured for at least the next seven years, the dream for every major sports league. Owners continued knocking down Engelbert’s door to launch new teams at ever-higher prices. It looked like smooth sailing ahead.

Four months later, however, that progress is hard to find. Despite those underpinnings of stability, the WNBA, its leadership, its players and its fans are still very often at odds. Growing pains abound, and those problems have accelerated in the run-up to this weekend’s All-Star celebration in Chicago. A spotlight intended for the league’s biggest stars is instead showcasing its remaining warts.

Clark won’t be participating in the 3-point contest, declining yet another invite over a reported aversion to shooting off a ball rack (skeptical emoji). Clark is simply bigger than the event, which will be held in the 10,837-seat Wintrust Arena. A bump in pay to $10,000 per participant hasn’t elevated the competition.1
Clark’s treatment by teammates, rivals, referees and fans has become a runaway story of its own, with battle lines drawn on all sides. Some feel like she receives unwarranted special treatment; others that the league is squandering its biggest star by not protecting and celebrating her more. All of that was exacerbated this weekend due to a bizarre USA Today column that described a “white nationalist faction to Clark’s fandom” and invoked the brutal and racist 1955 murder of Emmett Till to chastise Clark for not being more self-aware.
Indiana Fever drama doesn’t stop there. The team released a statement Thursday responding to allegations from former player Brianna Turner that a male staffer “was fired for sexual harassment” last year (the club declined to comment on “personnel matters involving former employees.”). A day earlier, the Fever responded to Sophie Cunningham’s (once-again viral) remarks about barring transgender athletes from women’s locker rooms and events. “We are committed to welcoming fans from every background and treating everyone with respect, and that’s what guides us as an organization,” the team said.
Cunningham didn’t make the All-Star roster (or 3-point shooting lineup), but debate has emerged over the union not capitalizing on her pointing gesture, which went viral after an on-court altercation in a June game against the Phoenix Mercury.

Then there are the league’s 14 other teams…

Toronto Tempo coach Sandy Brondello was suspended for one game for calling Reese a “protected species” during her team’s game against the Dream. Critics, including Reese, jumped on the comment as racially tinged. Brondello later said the phrase is common in her native Australia for an athlete that gets special treatment from referees, but she apologized to Reese.
New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, another one of the league’s A-list stars, recently denied a report claiming she had been invited, and turned down the invite, for Friday’s 3-point contest. “I can’t decline an offer I never got officially invited to,” the 2023 and 2025 champ in the event said.
Minnesota Lynx wing Kayla McBride posted on Instagram that she “received a half-ass invite to the 3 pt contest, thru my agent.” Like Ionescu, she attempted to pivot the spotlight to those actually competing, including 2026 No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd.
Friday’s events—the 3-point contest and a legend-laden Shooting Stars battle—are also devoid of any Chicago Sky players, despite the city hosting festivities.
Initially, the Sky planned to show off a new practice facility this weekend. But it won’t be ready this season. “After 20 years in this league, it is long overdue for Chicago’s ownership to recognize how to properly resource and support professional (women) athletes,” WNBPA boss Terri Carmichael Jackson said in a statement following the building’s latest delay.
Last week, Engelbert came under fire from longtime sports radio host Dan Patrick, who said his team waited two hours to speak with her at a previously agreed time before the talk was scuttled, reportedly by the commissioner’s staffers. The Dan Patrick Show aired images of Engelbert working on her golf stroke as he chided the league’s leader.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver was non-committal about Engelbert’s future days earlier while speaking at NBA Summer League. “I think Cathy continues to do a strong job building that league,” he said. “We’ll have ongoing discussions about what the future looks like.”
On Friday, both ESPN and The Athletic published long stories about Engelbert’s struggles. “She got us financially set up the right way,” an unnamed team exec told ESPN. “It’s the other pieces that we’re talking about.”

Engelbert and player representatives were back in a (virtual) meeting Thursday, reportedly talking for an hour-plus. They focused on common ground: the need for better security for stars, both in-person and online, as hateful comments follow in the wake of each controversy.

That collaboration can be read as a sign of progress. You could also see it as the progress yet to be made.

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