NEW YORK — BetOnline posted odds Friday on the next WNBA commissioner, and Michelle Obama opened as the favorite at 3/1.
The board went up on the same day the WNBA announced that Cathy Engelbert will retire. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the decision Friday. Engelbert has held the job since July 2019, and the retirement takes effect Dec. 31.
Engelbert said she was leaving after more than seven years at the WNBA and more than 40 total years in business.
“I retire with immense gratitude and tremendous optimism for the future,” Engelbert said in a statement.
Silver said Engelbert’s seven years covered “the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history.”
Engelbert told the Associated Press that the decision was hers alone and that she felt no pressure from NBA or WNBA stakeholders to step down. She said she will stay in the job if needed until the position is filled, and that a succession process will run through the remaining four months of her tenure. Sources told ESPN on Friday that multiple high-ranking team sources had believed 2026 would be Engelbert’s last season.
The BetOnline Board For Cathy Engelbert’s Replacement
The board runs 38 names deep. It mixes former players, league and team executives, college administrators, coaches, politicians, and broadcasters. Gambling911, which published the full table, priced Obama at 3/1 in the board itself and described her as a 2/1 favorite in its accompanying copy.
| Candidate | Odds |
|---|---|
| Michelle Obama | 3/1 |
| Swin Cash | 4/1 |
| Condoleezza Rice | 5/1 |
| Bethany Donaphin | 6/1 |
| Nneka Ogwumike | 7/1 |
| Sue Bird | 9/1 |
| Nina King | 10/1 |
| Mark Tatum | 10/1 |
| Laura Gentile | 12/1 |
| Candace Parker | 14/1 |
| Megan Rapinoe | 18/1 |
| Becky Hammon | 20/1 |
| Micky Lawler | 25/1 |
| Cheryl Miller | 40/1 |
| Diana Taurasi | 40/1 |
| Kamala Harris | 50/1 |
| Harvey Mason Jr. | 50/1 |
| Geno Auriemma | 50/1 |
| Lisa Leslie | 50/1 |
| Mark Cuban | 50/1 |
| Muffet McGraw | 66/1 |
| Rebecca Lobo | 66/1 |
| Taj McWilliams-Franklin | 66/1 |
| Maya Moore | 75/1 |
| Sheryl Swoopes | 75/1 |
| Andrea Brimmer | 100/1 |
| Dennis Rodman | 100/1 |
| Riley Gaines | 100/1 |
| Brittney Griner | 150/1 |
| Martina Navratilova | 250/1 |
| Taylor Rooks | 300/1 |
| Whoopi Goldberg | 500/1 |
| Rosie O’Donnell | 500/1 |
| Caitlyn Jenner | 500/1 |
| Enes Kanter Freedom | 750/1 |
| Dylan Mulvaney | 1000/1 |
| Royce White | 1000/1 |
| Clay Travis | 2000/1 |
Mark Cuban And Geno Auriemma Listed At 50/1
Cuban led a group that bought the Dallas Mavericks in January 2000 for a reported $285 million, and Dallas won the title in 2011. He owned the franchise until 2023. He sold the controlling interest in December 2023 to the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, kept a 27% minority stake, and took the title of alternate governor.
The 2023 agreement gives the Adelson and Dumont families an option through December 2027 to reduce Cuban’s stake to as low as 7%. In February the families told the Dallas Morning News that the team is not for sale. In July, Cuban became president of Harbinger Sports Partners, a $750 million fund that bought a minority stake in the Athletics.
Auriemma has coached UConn since 1985. He coached Paige Bueckers there, and Dallas took Bueckers with the first overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
Who Makes The Hire
Silver will make the hire. The next commissioner will be the sixth person to lead the WNBA in its 30-year history and the second to carry the commissioner title. Val Ackerman, Donna Orender, Laurel Richie, and Lisa Borders each held the title of president.
Tatum has been NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer since Feb. 1, 2014. He also ran the WNBA on an interim basis as president, from Oct. 2, 2018, until Engelbert started in 2019.
Donaphin is a senior vice president and has been the WNBA’s head of league operations since 2018. She played two seasons for the New York Liberty, in 2003 and 2004.
Cash played 15 WNBA seasons from 2002 to 2016, won three championships, and made four All-Star appearances. She spent six years as an executive with the New Orleans Pelicans, and she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
Ogwumike has been president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association since 2016. She announced Aug. 19 that she will retire at the end of the 2026 season. She was the 2016 MVP and has made 11 All-Star teams.
King is Duke’s vice president and director of athletics. Gentile spent more than two decades at ESPN and founded espnW. Lawler is the former president of the WTA.
Where The Dallas Wings Stand
The Dallas Wings are 24-16 and fourth in the Western Conference. They clinched their first playoff berth since 2023 with a 96-78 win over the Portland Fire on Aug. 25 at College Park Center.
Bueckers is averaging 20.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in 38 games. Dallas last played Aug. 30, a 97-71 win over the Connecticut Sun at College Park Center. The WNBA is on a break for the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany.
Wings coach José Fernández is working the World Cup as a scout coach for the United States, and Bueckers is on the United States roster.
Dallas hosts the Los Angeles Sparks on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. CT at College Park Center, then hosts the Phoenix Mercury on Sept. 19 at noon CT. The WNBA playoffs begin Sept. 27.
