The WNBA, in its 30th season, continues to set records in terms of viewership, attendance, engagement on digital platforms and more as the league’s growth trends even further upward by the year.
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growth → continue → year
However, despite its popularity, the league faces controversy, including the murkiness surrounding sex reassignment eligibility and national anthem protests.
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league → face → eligibility
The good and the bad of the WNBA is what a new league commissioner will be dealing with next season, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the WNBA Board of Governors will choose a new one with Cathy Engelbert retiring at the end of the 2026 calendar year.
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Engelbert → deal → year
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page → contain → partners
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News → sign → wager
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that → create → newsroom
He won’t be in the running for the job, but Carmelo Anthony has enjoyed the rise of the "W," and knows what his first order of business would be if he took over as commissioner of the league.
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he → enjoy → league
"I’m going to invest in the players," he replied when asked the exact question in a recent interview with OutKick.
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he → go → OutKick
"You have to invest in the script.
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You → have → script
If you have no script, there’s no movie, there’s no film.
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you → have → script
You have to invest in the script, and the script in this case is the players.
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script → have → case
"We have to protect the players.
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We → have → players
We have to protect them all across the board if we really want people to look at this league as the best women’s league in the world.
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people → have → world
So, you have to be intentional with the players and the script.
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you → have → players
You have to tighten that and build that, and make them feel comfortable in the situation that they’re in.
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they → have → that
Anthony didn’t elaborate on what exactly the players need to be protected from, but he did lead his way into wanting to hear exactly how players feel about anything.
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players → elaborate → anything
It’s not like, ‘You work for me.’
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You → ’ → me
No, we work together to build this.
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we → work → this
I want to hear everybody.
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I → want → everybody
I want to hear the good, the bad, the ugly," Anthony explained.
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Anthony → want → good
"I want to hear where you guys want to go.
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guys → want → ?
I want to hear from the players because if I just come with my business acumen, I have a whole other vision for it.
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I → want → it
"It has to be a collaborative situation.
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It → have → ?
And that’s why you see the NBA has grown like that once it became a collaborative season."
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it → ’ → that
The good is over than 91 million unique viewers watching national broadcasts this season, which is more than double the prior season’s reach.
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which → watch → broadcasts
There were also a total 3.8 million fans who attended games during the season, with a combined 212 sellouts and averaging attendance rising to 11,474 fans per game – a 21% hike from the previous WNBA high.
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attendance → be → high
Transgender athlete eligibility came a widespread debate after Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham publically opposed biological men competing in women’s sports.
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Cunningham → come → sports
It spilled over into Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, both ex-NBA players, declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft citing the league’s rules.
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Freedom → spill → rules
While the league’s collective bargaining agreement saying, "only players who are women are eligible to play," Engelbert and the rest of the league have not provided a detailed definition of a woman, which is why those like Freedom and White continue to speak out.
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those → say → Freedom
That has spilled into on-court altercations, with Freedom being kicked out of a Chicago Sky-Fever game after Natasha Cloud confronted him at his baseline seat.
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Cloud → spill → seat
Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton was suspended and fined by the league after a courtside confrontation where she threw expletives at two teenage fans supporting Cunningham during a game.
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she → suspend → game
In these WNBA Finals, the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream have repeatedly walked off the court before the national anthem, drawing massive criticism considering the league’s traditional expectation is for teams to stand in a dignified line like many other teams across professional sports and listen to the Star-Spangled Banner.
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teams → walk → Banner
From broader cultural debates, including race, equity and how the league enforces, there are certainly things the new WNBA commissioner will need to address next season and beyond.
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commissioner → include → race
But ultimately, Anthony is loving what he’s seen in terms of the league’s growth, which is what he thinks matters most.
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he → love → growth
"I love the popularity, I love the attention that it’s getting.
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it → love → that
I love the seriousness that and intentionality that’s being put into the W right now," he said.
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he → love → W
"The growth of it, obviously we’re seeing first-hand the growth of the W. But also, the talent and the skill level.
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we → see → W.
The players and the women coming into the league, it’s amazing to watch, the way the game is evolving.
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game → come → way
I love watching the W because of the fundamentals of the game of basketball.
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I → watch → basketball
They’re still going to take the best shot, they’re still going to run their plays.
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they → go → plays
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
