WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert is as unpopular with fans as she is with the league's players.
While awarding the Aces their third WNBA Championship trophy in the last four seasons after Las Vegas' Game 4 win over the Mercury in Phoenix, Engelbert was not only booed but also lip-synced off by several fans in the crowd on Friday night.
The abuse was so bad that ESPN cut to a grey screen several times during the post-game ceremonies.
Meanwhile, Aces players, including Finals MVP A'Ja Wilson, couldn't contain their smiles as Engelbert was jeered with only a few weeks to go before the league labor deal expires on October 31.
'ESPN had to blur/grey the screen multiple times during commissioner Cathy Engelbert's remarks because of a fan in the crowd flipping double birds at her,' ESPN's Sarah Spain wrote on X.
The scene unfolded a week after Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier blasted Engelbert's leadership in a season-ending press conference. Specifically, Collier claimed Engelbert said Caitlin Clark owed the WNBA for giving her a platform to earn endorsement money.
Engelbert said earlier this month there's work to be done to repair relationships with players in the league, while adding that there were 'inaccuracies' in some of the comments attributed to hey in a blistering assessment days prior.
'I was disheartened to hear that some players feel the league and that I personally do not care about them or listen to them,' Engelbert said before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. 'If the players in the `W' don't feel appreciated and valued by the league, we have to do better, and I have to do better.'
In wide-ranging comments, Engelbert said officiating will be reviewed this offseason by a new 'state of the game' committee. The commissioner also said the league and the players' union have meetings scheduled for next week to discuss a new collective bargaining agreement. Engelbert also said she plans to remain as commissioner after a CBA is finalized.
As for comments that Collier said Engelbert made in private conversations about Clark needing the WNBA to succeed financially, the commissioner denied saying them.
'Caitlin has been a transformational player in this league. She's been a great representative of the game,' Engelbert said. 'She's brought in tens of millions of new fans to the game.'
