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Engelbert is so out of touch. In her address to the Indianapolis Economic Club luncheon this summer, she went out of her way to never mention Clark but focused her address on self-congratulatory comments that made it seem she had invented professional sports and that the WNBA was nothing before Engelbert’s arrival. She’s delusional…the WNBA didn’t exist before Clark. CC is the ONLY reason there are any eyeballs on the sport. Engelbert is a typical “know-nothing” McKinsey consultant.
I agree with you that Engelbert is out of touch and very self-centered. However, your comment the WNBA did not exist before Clark is just as delusional as Engelbert thinking she invented the WNBA. The league has been around for 27+ years. Yes, Clark (and her contemporaries) has elevated the league to a whole other level but it is unfair to say the league did not exist before Clark. Just because you were not a fan before Clark arrived does not mean diminish the value of those who came before her and helped to build a foundation on which CC and others are now building a bigger and stronger league.
The game of pickleball was invented in 1965 (60 years ago) but has only become popular in the mainstream over the past 10 years or so. Does this mean pickleball did not exist 30 or 40 years ago? Of course not. It only means it has evolved and stood the test of time. The same can be said for the WNBA.
The WNBA has never made a profit, so economically it hasn’t really existed. It’s merely a recipient of “welfare” from the NBA, without which it would cease to exist. One wonders what advice would Engelbert have given to her Deloitte clients who had not made a profit in 27+ years?
Catlin Clark to basketball is what Billy Jean King and Chris Evert was to tennis. Womens tennis had been around for a century but when Billy Jean came on it had a new beginning and then Chris Everet brought the sport to the next level. We are seeing a similar thing for women’s basketball. The USTA realized this, I am hopeful the WNBA has the vision to allow the sport to go to the next level. It will take leadership and strategic thinking to create the potential success, take a page out of the tennis history and learn form it.