On point analysis
Well worth a read
open.substack.com
Tidbits
A couple of hours after Phee made her statement, Sports Business Journal reported that sources expect Engelbert to exit her role as commissioner after the CBA is negotiated.
The WNBA Commish was hired be a public face for NBA ownership and commissioner Adam Silver. That public face could definitely use a makeover once the labor situation is settled.
And
It is, after all, the NBA that essentially has total control over the actions of the WNBA with a 42% ownership stake and WNBA franchise owners — many of whom are NBA owners — owning another 42%. and WNBA franchise owners — many of whom are NBA owners — owning another 42%.
No matter what anybody says publicly, it will be Silver and the NBA who give the final stamp of approval on the league side when and if the new CBA is agreed upon.
Viewed in that context, Engelbert’s egotistical chest thumping reads much less like that of a narcissist on a power trip than a middle manager who knows their own manager is the one with all of the actual power.
Ominously for those of us who enjoyed the WNBA:
I am certain that the players are prepared for both a short-term and long-term future without the WNBA, because they’ve not only been anticipating but actively planting the seed of this fight for years. As they continually say, they understand the stakes. The WNBA, on the other hand, can’t exist without its players. I’m just not sure that NBA owners will decide they need the WNBA to exist any more than the players need it to exist if next summer comes and goes without a season.
Well worth a read

Tulin's Treasures: Aces Sweat Out the Fever After Phee Scorches the Earth
A season was pulled out of the fire, another coach got fired and shots were fired at the commish as September went up in flames

Tidbits
A couple of hours after Phee made her statement, Sports Business Journal reported that sources expect Engelbert to exit her role as commissioner after the CBA is negotiated.
The WNBA Commish was hired be a public face for NBA ownership and commissioner Adam Silver. That public face could definitely use a makeover once the labor situation is settled.
And
It is, after all, the NBA that essentially has total control over the actions of the WNBA with a 42% ownership stake and WNBA franchise owners — many of whom are NBA owners — owning another 42%. and WNBA franchise owners — many of whom are NBA owners — owning another 42%.
No matter what anybody says publicly, it will be Silver and the NBA who give the final stamp of approval on the league side when and if the new CBA is agreed upon.
Viewed in that context, Engelbert’s egotistical chest thumping reads much less like that of a narcissist on a power trip than a middle manager who knows their own manager is the one with all of the actual power.
Ominously for those of us who enjoyed the WNBA:
I am certain that the players are prepared for both a short-term and long-term future without the WNBA, because they’ve not only been anticipating but actively planting the seed of this fight for years. As they continually say, they understand the stakes. The WNBA, on the other hand, can’t exist without its players. I’m just not sure that NBA owners will decide they need the WNBA to exist any more than the players need it to exist if next summer comes and goes without a season.
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