How Nneka Ogwumike could become WNBA commissioner after stint as WNBPA president

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How Nneka Ogwumike could become WNBA commissioner after stint as WNBPA president originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Cathy Engelbert is bringing her successful but controversial stint as WNBA commissioner to an end later this year -- which means the hard work of finding the 62-year-old's replacement is about to begin.

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ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported Tuesday that the league is keeping "an open mind" in its approach to hiring Engelbert's replacement. This person will have big shoes to fill; the WNBA's popularity has skyrocketed during Engelbert's seven-year tenure, culminating in the ratification of a historic collective bargaining agreement earlier this year.

MORE: Cathy Engelbert never meant to be WNBA commissioner for seven years

Sitting on the other side of the table from Engelbert, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the WNBA team owners was the WNBPA and its president, Los Angeles Sparks star Nneka Ogwumike.

And ironically enough, Ogwumike could find herself a candidate to take over from Engelbert amid her own retirement from the WNBA when the 2026 season concludes.

"If one of Engelbert's weaknesses was developing relationships with players, that's Ogwumike's clear strength. The Stanford grad is well-respected as WNBPA president for 10 years, a tenure that includes representing the players for two CBA negotiations," Philippou writes. "If Ogwumike is interested in the role, it would be a fascinating and unprecedented turn coming less than a year removed from a contentious labor negotiation between the players' union and the league/owners; Ogwumike has built a legacy representing the former, but the commissioner's job is to represent the latter."

Ogwumike's schedule suddenly has cleared after she told Taylor Rooks last month that the 2026 season -- her 15th in the WNBA -- would be her last.

Ogwumike's negotiation skill and proximity to the players could work in her favor as well as against it. The owners are seeking in a new commissioner someone who will vouch for them, something that Ogwumike's background as the WNBPA's president would make difficult to reconcile.

But in keeping an open mind throughout the process, the WNBA is at least considering the possibility of going in a completely different direction after Engelbert's office struggled to deal with threats to player safety, as well as ongoing efforts from former NBA players to challenge the league's policy on transgender players.

A new commissioner in Ogwumike's mold, in theory, would be better prepared to face such challenges.

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