Cathy Engelbert Outshines Ignored Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese in WNBA Veteran’s Eyes

Putting Cathy Engelbert and the 2024 draft class in the same sentence has not produced favorable reactions this season. But as fans move on from her comments about the Caitlin Clark-Angel Reese rivalry narrative, a former player’s comments are putting the spotlight on the WNBA Commissioner rather than the star rookie duo that set the league on fire this season.

Chiney Ogwumike, usually a Caitlin Clark fan, recently appeared in an interview for Front Office Sports. As Owen Poindexter asked her if there was a possibility of a common basketball league between men and women, Ogwumike first appreciated how playing with men could elevate the women’s game as well. But then she pointed out how the W is finally getting the recognition it deserves, but she didn’t mention CC or Reese anywhere. “I think the reason why the WNBA and women’s basketball is taking off is because it’s finally treated autonomously, its own.”

Referring to the iconic CBA agreement between herself and Engelbert in 2020, Ogwumike pointed out how realizing “we are a league full of women, we have different passions, different interests, and we represent our communities in unique ways that might be specific to women,” has helped the W carve its own niche. And it has been largely thanks to Engelbert, per Ogwumike.

“We got a commissioner that was very focused on the business of us standing alone,” the former player continued. Referencing Nike’s Game Growers, Engelbert had said in 2020, “I think we also need more girls and women ultimately becoming coaches or in broadcast or front office and COO and general manager positions, the business of basketball positions.”

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – JUNE 01: Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) is guarded by Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) on June 1, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This was four years ago when the league was still trying to figure out how to draw more attention to women’s basketball and women’s sports in general. But although it seemed like Clark and Reese had almost singlehandedly solved that problem for the W, Ogwumike was still focused on Engelbert. Certainly, it was, in a way, through WNBA and Engelbert that the former Cardinal has also extended a 4-year contract with ESPN recently and has been a vocal advocate for the sport.

She went on to say to Pointdexter, “I always tell people, it’s not a small thing that Adam Silver with Cathy Engelbert was like, ‘You are no longer a president, you are a commissioner, you are representing your own thing.’ That’s huge, that’s all the similar mindset that women’s basketball has sort of had and owned. And creating a space that allows us to be enjoyed and supported and invested, independent.”

But despite this apparent snub, Ogwumike has been a Caitlin Clark fan all season long. When her Rookie of the Year title was revealed, she was furious at the voter who prevented it from being unanimous.

Former ROTY Chiney Ogwumike picked Caitlin Clark over Angel Reese

Angel Reese receiving one out of 67 votes for ROTY was on no one’s bingo card and the disruption wreaked havoc in the league. When ESPN’s Andraya Carter famously asked the WNBA to reveal their voters like the NBA, Chiney Ogwumike was right beside her to carry the conversation forward.

“(Clark) should have been a unanimous Rookie of the Year… Ever since Angel Reese had that injury, and also coming off of Olympic break, Caitlin Clark separated herself. She should have been unanimous…she was the most blitzed player in the WNBA. And she still put up 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists… To be able to do that as a rookie, in the face of that much defensive pressure, should’ve been unanimous,” Ogwumike said.

While that voter will likely never come to light, it wasn’t the first time the former Sparks player had insisted on supporting the Fever star. Before the results even came out, she had made it clear that her pick was CC and she deserved it. But where attention on the WNBA is concerned, Ogwumike is picking Engelbert overall!