Sports

Dan Patrick Chides WNBA Head Cathy Engelbert for Bailing on Show, Avoiding ‘Tough' Caitlin Clark Questions

By Kristen Wong Sports Illustrated

The WNBA is continuing to grow following a record-breaking year in which it generated enough revenue to trigger revenue sharing with its players for the first time in its history. However, it doesn't look like WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is interested in growing alongside it.

On Friday sports radio host Dan Patrick tore into Engelbert for cancelling her appearance on his eponymous show in what he believed was an unprofessional and disrespectful move. He alluded that she did so because she didn't want to answer the "tough" questions.

Patrick noted that his people got in touch with Engelbert and she agreed to come on the show earlier this week. But when it came to the day of the taping, the WNBA head bailed last-minute.

".This was scheduled. She was going to do a meeting in her hotel room, have a conference call, and then join us," Patrick said on his show. "For at least 90 minutes, Fritzy was just looking for an update. We were standing by, waiting to interview her. [The WNBA PR team] didn't balk at anything, didn't say, ‘You can't ask anything.' And we thought, O.K., we're going to be able to finally ask questions about Caitlin Clark, the WNBA expansion, a lot of different things. And we waited and we waited and we waited. And then we got word, Todd did, that the commissioner said that the WNBA staff, the PR staff, said that she is not allowed to do this. They would prefer that she did not do this.

"You're the commissioner, and you're listening to the PR department, which is fine, but did you check with PR before you said yes to us?" continued Patrick. "We promoted it all day yesterday. Now, look, I know people get busy, people have agendas. It was her opportunity to finally say, ‘Hey, you can ask me the tough questions, okay?' I thought this was going to be a good thing for the WNBA because people still want answers here. There are so many people who have an opinion and agendas here, and this was a chance to sit down. And yes, would the questions be tough? Yes, yes. And I'm sure that had something to do with it."

Patrick said he caught wind Engelbert agreed instead to talk to a radio station in Kansas City where she was apparently only asked about WNBA expansion.

"It's just disappointing," said Patrick. "... If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens! These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you, a fair platform. I will treat you with respect."

The Dan Patrick Show also produced one of the funniest cutaways as Patrick criticized Engelbert for "hitting practice shots out of the bunker" nearby the show's set instead of getting interviewed:

Patrick ended his admonishing spiel with a blunt message on how it's ultimately Engelbert's loss that she declined to come onto the show.

"We want to cover the WNBA. The PR staff, somebody did a disservice to this. That's all. Somebody made the call. But this is an important league, there's expansion, there's conversation, it's been agenda-ized, everybody has something to say about it. Now you have a chance to answer these questions. Are they uncomfortable? Yes. ... I wanted Cathy to have that opportunity. ... That says a lot about what's going on, in my opinion, with the WNBA."

WNBA commissioner's alleged last-minute cancellation is a bad look for league amid recent controversies

Plenty of fans on social media agreed Engelbert's alleged choice to bail on The Dan Patrick Show was a cowardly move on her part that only reflects poorly on the W.

Only one side of the story has been told so far, but given the detailed context, it's hard not to see this as anything other than a poorly managed PR snafu that questions Engelbert's efficacy and leadership at a time when the WNBA needs strong voices standing up for its players and facilitating its healthy growth.

When the Caitlin Clark-Alyssa Thomas controversy unfolded, Engelbert publicly spoke up-but only after Thomas harshly criticized her and the league for not protecting its players. The Mercury star said she and the team had received death threats over her flagrant foul on Clark and hadn't yet heard from Engelbert about her one-game suspension. A WNBA representative told Sports Illustrated that Engelbert had exchanged texts and offered to get on a call with Thomas, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

Thomas committed the foul-"recklessly" pressing her fist to Clark's throat during a scramble for the ball-during a Fever-Mercury game on June 24. Over two weeks later, people are still talking about it, and not all the conversations have been productive, to say the least.

Earlier this month, a group of Republican lawmakers sent Engelbert a letter demanding that the league take "accountability" for what they deemed were attacks against Clark. The letter, which refers to Clark as the face of the league, claimed the Fever guard has been the victim of "unnecessary physical hostility and violence" over the years and suggested that the attacks may be "racially motivated." This includes Clark getting poked in the eye by then-Sun guard DiJonai Carrington during her rookie year, and Clark getting knocked to the ground during a scrum with Sun players last season.

The Fever has since declined any involvement in the letter.

"Our organization nor Caitlin has had any interaction with anyone in this congressional group and we were unaware of their letter," the Fever said in a statement.

More WNBA from Sports Illustrated



This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dan Patrick Chides WNBA Head Cathy Engelbert for Bailing on Show, Avoiding ‘Tough' Caitlin Clark Questions.

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This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 7:11 AM.

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