Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) looks to shoot the ball against the Connecticut Sun during a game on Friday, Aug. 28,
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) looks to shoot the ball against the Connecticut Sun during a game on Friday, Aug. 28,
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said this week that she has spoken with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as the WNBA prepares to name a successor to Cathy Engelbert. Engelbert announced she will retire at the end of 2026, ending a seven-year run as the league’s first commissioner.
Cunningham told reporters she has talked with Silver, who is overseeing the search for the next WNBA leader, more than once.
“I have talked to Adam Silver a couple times, and I think he’s a great guy who’s very knowledgeable and full of wisdom,” she revealed. “Just getting to talk to him and hear his perspective of his approach to the NBA is huge.”
Cunningham is a player, not an executive. Silver talking to her about the next commissioner will certainly raise some eyebrows. She is also one of the league’s most scrutinized voices off the court.
Sophie Cunningham says Adam Silver reached out to ask who she thinks should be the next WNBA commissioner 👀 pic.twitter.com/zjvU9lNo9y
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) September 16, 2026
Sophie Cunningham and Adam Silver discussed the league’s next leader
Cunningham did not name candidates or claim a formal role in the hiring process. She said Silver struck her as knowledgeable and that she expects him to look for someone who can push the WNBA further, even as the league is already growing in attendance, television ratings, sponsorships, and franchise value.
“I think he’s going to put someone in place who really wants to take our league to another level than it’s already at,” she said. “Our league is booming, so why would we not want someone who is going to try to make it even more booming?”
It sure sounds like she’s insinuating Engelbert was not interested in capitalizing on the boom. And that was evident more often than not when the league refused to feature her teammate Caitlin Clark in various promotions, and worse, allowed players to physically beat her down.
She also outlined what she wants from the next commissioner. Cunningham said the job requires a leader who keeps a direct line to players, even when the commissioner has to make decisions that favor ownership. She said disagreement is inevitable. In her view, what matters is communication and respect.
“I think that the WNBA has always been a place for people to feel safe and comfortable,” the Fever guard said. “I think there’s all types of walks in this organization or in this league, which I think is absolutely awesome, but I do think with that, you need someone who’s going to unite everybody because it can be so different.”
Cunningham also said the next commissioner should be able to hold together a roster of players with very different backgrounds and opinions. The WNBA has long marketed itself as a league with a social voice. That identity has become harder to manage as the sport’s popularity has increased and as fights over officiating, star treatment, and eligibility rules have moved into the center of the coverage.
“My second thing is I really do think that you need a commissioner that is players first, who wants a relationship with the players,” Cunningham said. “I think that’s so important.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re always going to get along and we’re always going to agree,” she added. “They have a job, they work for the owners, and so they’re going to have to make hard decisions. But if you have that open line of communication and that respect level, I think that it just feels different.”
A search that will test more than résumés
Engelbert’s tenure covered the league’s biggest commercial jump and its most public internal strife. She oversaw expansion plans, a new media-rights package, and a new collective bargaining agreement, but critics also argue the league spent too much time on politics and not enough on protecting the product.
The next hire will be judged against that record. Silver’s involvement makes the search more than an internal WNBA matter. The NBA commissioner has final influence over the process, and Cunningham’s account suggests he is taking advice beyond the usual ownership and front-office circle.
That is why her remarks matter. Cunningham has spent the season being cast as either a problem or a necessary check on the league’s direction. Her stance on keeping women’s sports reserved for women made her a target in some locker rooms and a favorite in others. It also made her an unusual person for Silver to consult, which is exactly why the conversations are news.
Cunningham is not applying for the job in any formal sense. That we know of. She is describing the standard she thinks the next commissioner has to meet — grow the league, talk to the players, and keep the basketball from getting lost. For a league heading into its first leadership change since 2019, that is the debate Silver now has to settle.