Cheryl Reeve Rules Out WNBA Commissioner Job After Cathy Engelbert Exit

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Monday she would not want to succeed Cathy Engelbert as commissioner of the WNBA, calling the job "thankless" and "hard."

Reeve made the comments at practice in Minneapolis, according to MPR News. It was the Lynx's first press conference since the U.S. won the FIBA Women's World Cup, which ended Sunday in Berlin with Team USA beating France 97-79.

Engelbert announced Sept. 4 that she will retire at the end of 2026. She took over in 2019 as the league's first commissioner. Every league head before her held the title of president. Sources told ESPN the search for her replacement is expected to begin later this month, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver making the hire.

In March, Silver declined to say whether Engelbert would stay beyond 2026. Engelbert has since said she would remain temporarily if no successor is in place by the end of December.

The WNBA had 12 teams when Engelbert arrived. Golden State joined in 2025, and Toronto and Portland followed this season. Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia are scheduled to bring the total to 18 by 2030.

Whoever is hired will be the seventh person to lead the league.

"Most people don't know the full scope of a commissioner's job, and I think that there's a lot of boxes maybe the person, an ideal person, could check," Reeve said.

Engelbert spent 33 years at Deloitte before the WNBA hired her. She was elected CEO there in 2015, becoming the first woman to lead a Big Four accounting firm.

"I think your key stakeholders having the buy-in and at least have a pulse on things. I think that's important," Reeve said. "So you can't just be a business person. You can't just be a relationship person."

Reeve said the commissioner has to manage different personalities across the league.

"You don't necessarily make a lot of friends along the way. That's not the point," Reeve said. "But you have to have the ability to collaborate and connect with people, and to do your job and to sort of steward the path of the WNBA."

The next commissioner should also set the example for how people across the league deal with one another.

"That's whether it's business or basketball, and whether it's players or executives or league personnel," Reeve said. "I think we could use some, you know, a real strong dose of some chemistry throughout the entire league."

Minnesota lost to the Phoenix Mercury in last season's semifinals. At her exit interview afterward, Lynx star Napheesa Collier criticized Engelbert and the league office. Engelbert was later booed at Commissioner's Cup finals and All-Star weekends, ESPN's Michael Voepel wrote after the retirement announcement.

Reeve's first WNBA coaching job came with the Charlotte Sting in 2001. She later won championships in 2006 and 2008 as an assistant under Bill Laimbeer with the Detroit Shock.

In Minnesota, Reeve has won four titles, in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. She passed Laimbeer for second place on the league's career wins list on June 5, 2024. This season, she became the winningest coach in WNBA history.

Reeve has won WNBA Coach of the Year four times, most recently in 2024. She was named Basketball Executive of the Year in 2019 as the Lynx general manager and again in 2024 as president of basketball operations.

She also coached the U.S. to gold at the 2024 Olympics, the program's eighth straight. Earlier this year, she was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

Reeve holds two titles with the Lynx, coach and president of basketball operations.

"Absolutely not," Reeve said. "I have none of those things."

The first-place Lynx have four games left in the regular season, which ends Sept. 24.

Minnesota hosts the New York Liberty at Target Center on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT and plays at Connecticut on Sunday.