This weekend marked a moment of celebration for the WNBA, which used All-Star festivities in Chicago as a greater platform to celebrate the league’s 30th season.
But this milestone also serves as a pivotal moment for league Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season. Under Engelbert, the WNBA has recorded historic growth as the popularity of women’s basketball — and women’s sports in general — exploded to unprecedented levels. But Engelbert often has chafed against the players of the league, especially over the last year amid a contentious collective bargaining period.
Engelbert did not directly answer a question about whether she expects to be the commissioner in 2027 and beyond. Instead, she focused on her pride in the growth of the league office, which has expanded to more than 100 employees after staffing only 12 people when Engelbert took over in 2019.
“Obviously I’m so blessed to have been at the helm of this league during this incredible hypergrowth period, so blessed that these players are putting the product on the court they are every night, that they stand for the values that the ‘W’ has long sought for,” Engelbert, 61, said. “I will just continue to do my job and execute the strategy because it has been working.”
Although Engelbert mostly highlighted the accomplishments and strengths of the league, she did admit one area for her own improvement: communication.
WNBA players have frequently criticized Engelbert for an apparent lack of care or communication, which included failing to reach out to players when they broke records or suffered injuries. Engelbert emphasized that she is working to create better habits of communication from the league office, such as utilizing text messages rather than emails.
“We need to be better,” Engelbert said. “There’s no doubt. I need to be better. Everybody needs to be better at communication all the time. So we’ll continue to work on that and communicate.”
Here are other things we saw and heard at WNBA All-Star weekend.
Highs and lows for MVP Jones
New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones said she had an All-Star weekend of highs and lows after earning the game MVP award Saturday night. She led Team Spoon to a 129-122 win over Team Coop by totaling 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists.
Upon receiving the trophy, Jones revealed in her center-court interview that she was mourning the death of her aunt. She asked for permission from her family to be at the game instead of the memorial service Saturday, though she does plan to be present when they spread her aunt’s ashes at a later date.
She said at her news conferences that her aunt was someone who always brought people together and showed her love with her cooking.
“My aunt meant a lot to me,” Jones said. “She was one of the matriarchs in our family. I remember a lot of great family get-togethers that happened at her house.”
Jones also grew emotional earlier in her news conference when discussing a clip of her at an All-Star party that drew attention. During a livestream at the party, she was talking to a friend and told her that while Connecticut deserved to win the 2019 WNBA Finals, Minnesota deserved to win in 2024 against the Liberty.
She explained at the news conference that she simply meant that a team can have a lot of chemistry and a great season, and it might still not be enough to win it.
But some fans online took it the wrong way.
“It definitely was a gut punch to me. I couldn’t really enjoy the weekend,” she said of the reaction to the video, before pausing. “New York means a lot to me. The organization means a lot to me. Our locker room, our chemistry, what we built. I just never wanted to misrepresent that. I never wanted people to ever feel like I was doing anything other than trying to put my best foot forward for our team. So I apologize.”
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Jones had a happier moment later in the news conference when she pointed to Temple coach Diane Richardson, who was standing filming in the back of the room. Richardson became Jones’ legal guardian when Jones moved to the United States from the Bahamas to play basketball.
“She decided to trust her gut and trust God and open up her home to me, and the rest is history,” Jones said. “It literally started with someone just taking a chance on me and giving me an opportunity. I think it was divine intervention. I do think it was God. I didn’t just gain a coach and a guardian at the time. I also gained a second mother.”
Jones has been collecting MVP awards in multiple WNBA events. She also was named the WNBA MVP in 2021, the Commissioner’s Cup MVP in 2023 and the WNBA Finals MVP in 2024.
‘A star’
Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon, who drafted one of the All-Star teams, said former Notre Dame and TCU star Olivia Miles is a player on her team who reminds her of herself.
When Miles was asked pregame if she knew much about Weatherspoon’s game, she admitted she didn’t, telling her fellow All-Stars at her media availability that she was born in 2003.
Four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, sitting to Miles’ left and born in 1996, was aghast at the birth year.
“Oh, my God,” Wilson said after turning away in shock.
That youth, of course, played into the excitement Wilson shared about what Miles has done in her rookie season for the Minnesota Lynx. Miles is averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and six assists per game and was named an All-Star starter, just the 11th rookie in WNBA history to earn that distinction.
“You’re a star,” Wilson told Miles. “For real, you’re a star. You’re going to have a really, really good career in this league, not only because of your game of course but the way that you carry yourself off the court. I love how unapologetic you are. And that’s always going to get you far in life.
“As you continue to grow, as you continue to be in this league, you’ll find even more ways to still get to your spots and push it, and that’s going to be exciting to see.”
Miles wasn’t the only rookie to grab attention over the weekend.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd became the first WNBA rookie to win the 3-Point Contest on Friday night at Wintrust Arena. She scored a 30 in the final round.
Feel-good moment
High schooler Jezelle “GG” Banks, 17, sat between former WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne and current WNBA star Shakira Austin on Friday night and was beaming.
Banks had just explained to a room full of reporters how she thought Delle Donne and Austin were amazing players, role models and leaders. She said she was so happy to be with them on Team Washington in the Shooting Stars competition at All-Star weekend festivities.
The new competition paired WNBA legends and current players with an EYBL player to compete on teams in a 3-point contest.
“We’re glad we had you!” Delle Donne and Austin both jumped in.
Banks’ reaction to winning the new event in front of a big Wintrust Arena crowd made for a touching moment.
“With these two, I knew we were going to get the dub,” Banks said. “I was very excited. But I didn’t think it was going to be like this. Man, this is packed — in here (the media room) too. But it’s an awesome experience for sure.”
The story was made better because Banks played a huge role in helping Team Washington win, including hitting two shots near half-court in the first round.
“She carried,” Austin said. “You could just tell her energy. As soon as we started, it was confidence. I think that showed in how she hit those tough shots. Those were very far. They were literally half-court shots. I’m over here bricking, I’m looking at her, she’s over here, ‘Cash, cash, cash.’ I’m like, Oh, my God.’ To have that confidence so young. I was nervous. It didn’t look like she was nervous.”
WNBA invests in replay center
During Saturday’s pregame news conference, Engelbert also announced that the WNBA will unveil a replay center for the 2027 season. This mechanism will be modeled off the NBA’s replay center, which was launched in 2014. The implementation of this system requires an update to the in-arena technology used in every playing environment in the league, allowing every game to be connected directly to a localized center in an offsite location.
This update will not include a Last Two Minute report — a mainstay of late-game transparency in the NBA — although Engelbert said the league hopes to adopt these types of officiating resources eventually as investment continues to improve.
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Officiating is a crucial focal point for the WNBA. The league shifted its approach to officiating this season with an emphasis on increasing foul calls and diluting the amount of unnecessary physicality in the game. Engelbert listed a series of statistics — including the fact that scoring, offensive pace, offensive rating and field goals made are all at an all-time high — that she considers to be victories borne of this shift in officiating.
“That’s what we heard from players — (they) want more freedom of movement,” Engelbert said. “We got it. Now, there’s always a calibration and adjustment period … but I think it’s adjusting, even over the past couple weeks. I know in officiating, we always need to be better. … We’re throwing a lot at this to make sure we do have the best officials in the women’s game.”
Chicago return
The Chicago Sky didn’t have any current players participating in the All-Star Game or shooting contests, but several former Sky players were on hand, including All-Stars Angel Reese, Kahleah Copper and Marina Mabrey.
The former Sky crew also included Delle Donne, who joined the Sky as the No. 2 pick in the 2013 draft and played four of her 10 seasons in Chicago. Delle Donne, who retired in 2023, said she had to be convinced to participate in the Shooting Stars competition but she was glad she eventually said yes.
“In retirement there’s a part of me where I want to say yes and lean into certain things that when I was playing I was too serious and too competitive to do,” she said. “I had to drop that competitiveness, where it was like, I haven’t been training, I haven’t been in the gym, I haven’t shot the ball since I was wearing a Mystics jersey (in 2023). Whatever, go out and have a fun time.”
She said she was happy to be back in Chicago for the event.
“I knew if I’m going to get out and dust these cobwebs off, at least I’m in Chicago and hopefully the rims still work here for me,” she said.
Seen and heard
In its 30th season, the WNBA leaned into honoring its history throughout the weekend.
Before tipoff Saturday, the league introduced WNBA legends Sheryl Swoopes, Rebecca Lobo and Lisa Leslie and then brought out another big group of women who helped build the league.
All-Star festivities host Holly Rowe told them: “Look what we built! Look around!”
Swoopes also was shown on the video board at Wintrust Arena on Friday night, as was Dwyane Wade, Jayson Tatum and Russell Westbrook. Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo, a potential headliner of the 2027 WNBA draft, was on hand Friday and took photos with multiple fans.
Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles, actor Jason Sudeikis and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley were among the people shown on the United Center video board Saturday. South African singer Tyla performed the halftime show.