As the WNBA searches for its next commissioner, Sophie Cunningham said she has spoken several times with current NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who is in charge of the search for the league’s next leader.
“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.”
Although Cunningham did not speculate about potential candidates for the position, she expressed confidence that the eventual choice will be someone determined to build on the WNBA’s momentum.
“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 also believes that the next commissioner must put “players first.”
“I think that the WNBA has always been a place for people to feel safe and comfortable,” Cunningham 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.”
“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.”
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“That doesn’t mean we’re always going to get along and we’re always going to agree,” she continued. “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.”
Cunningham’s comments come as the WNBA prepares for its first leadership change in seven years. Cathy Engelbert, who became the league’s first commissioner in 2019, announced that she will retire at the end of 2026 after more than four decades in business. Her tenure coincided with unprecedented growth in attendance, television audiences, sponsorship revenue and franchise valuations.
She also oversaw an expansion plan that will grow the league from 12 to 18 teams by 2030, along with new media-rights and collective bargaining agreements. At the same time, Engelbert’s relationship with players was occasionally strained.
