Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham says she has had multiple conversations with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as he oversees the search for the WNBA’s next commissioner.
“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,” Cunningham told reporters this week. “Just getting to talk to him and hear his perspective of his approach to the NBA is huge.”
Cunningham did not name any candidates she’d like to see in the role, but she said she trusts Silver to pick someone focused on continuing the league’s growth.
“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?”
Cunningham said her top priority for the next commissioner is that they put “players first.”
“I think that the WNBA has always been a place for people to feel safe and comfortable. 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.”
“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.”
She added that a good relationship with players doesn’t mean constant agreement. “That doesn’t mean we’re always going to get along and we’re always going to agree,” Cunningham said. “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 leadership change years in the making
Cunningham’s remarks come as the WNBA braces for its first change in leadership in seven years. Cathy Engelbert, who took over as the league’s first commissioner in 2019, has announced she will retire at the end of 2026 after more than four decades in business.
Engelbert’s tenure saw substantial growth in attendance, television audiences, sponsorship revenue and franchise valuations. She also steered an expansion plan set to grow the league from 12 to 18 teams by 2030, alongside new media-rights and collective bargaining agreements. Her relationship with players, however, was at times strained.
