Fixable Podcast Summary
Episode: Unsolicited Advice: The WNBA has a leadership problem
Hosts: Anne Morriss & Frances Frei
Date: October 20, 2025
Overview
In this "Unsolicited Advice" edition of Fixable, leadership experts Anne Morriss (CEO and bestselling author) and Frances Frei (Harvard Business professor) take a deep dive into the ongoing leadership crisis in the WNBA. Sparked by explosive criticisms from player Nafeesa Collier and mounting player injuries, the episode scrutinizes WNBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbert's handling of issues and offers actionable, unrequested advice for league leaders. The hosts tackle the WNBA’s failure to address officiating, player relations, and the collective bargaining impasse—using the league’s moment of turmoil to illustrate universal lessons in crisis leadership and organizational trust.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The “Inciting Incident”: Nafeesa Collier’s Exit Interview
[03:13]
- Nafeesa Collier, elite player and key figure in CBA negotiations, publicly blasted league leadership and Commissioner Engelbert after the season ended.
- Frei: “She unburdened herself of all of her views of leadership. And so it was an explosive interview that really took to task the WNBA leadership and specifically the commissioner of the WNBA, Kathy Engelbert.”
- This event crystallized years of simmering tension between players and leadership.
2. Escalating Player Injuries and Officiating Problems
[04:19-06:06]
- Physical play, inadequate officiating, and lack of response have become top concerns—cited by coaches, fans, and especially players.
- Star players, including Caitlin Clark and Collier, sidelined during playoffs at the league’s peak moment.
- Frei:** “It’s super dangerous out there, and the commissioner ... isn’t doing enough to protect players.”** [04:19]
- Anne notes the experience as a viewer: “It was. It's just a huge amount of variability. So suddenly this like, who's on the court calling the game becomes very meaningful in the outcome of the game, which degrades the quality of the experience for the players and the fans and everyone who. Who's watching.” [10:49]
3. Commissioner Engelbert’s Leadership Response: Silence and Dismissiveness
[07:42-09:47]
- Frei describes Engelbert’s public reactions as “playfully dismissive” and emblematic of a larger leadership issue—a lack of genuine engagement and accountability.
- Frei: "Every time anyone has complained about the officiating, the response has been silence or dismissiveness. Every single time. ... Besides the fines for daring to say [anything]." [08:44]
- No real steps to repair relationships, just vague assurances:
"There was a statement put out ... didn’t deny anything ... said that she was disheartened ... she will continue to work ... vague and more of the same.” [09:16]
4. The Power of a Good Apology & Trust Repair
[10:16-14:14]
- Morriss and Frei stress that admitting failure is critical:
“When you want to repair a relationship, you should begin with an apology ... it just tells people that they're no longer being gaslit.” —Frei [10:24] - Elements of a good apology:
- Own it
- Fix it
- Stop it
- Morriss: “We got it wrong and everybody lost. Let's name it.” [13:10]
5. Learning from Other Leagues and the Need for Transparency
[11:18-12:17]
- Suggest looking to NBA, college basketball, and soccer for best practices:
- Transparency in officiating reviews and public accountability.
- Adopt proven systems rather than relying on a mysterious “black box.”
6. Commissioner Engelbert’s Track Record: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
[17:50-22:51]
- Engelbert’s prior success at Deloitte (a corporate environment) hasn’t translated to a player-driven sports league.
- Morriss: “What got her here is not going to get her there ... this is a crisis moment and the opportunity is going to require you to engage with urgency, curiosity, empathy around the stakeholders and take accountability for decisions you made that have brought you to this point.” [20:26]
- Frei: “There has been no evidence that she has the desire, much less the capacity, to lead differently.” [21:02]
7. The Collective Bargaining Agreement: Opportunity and Risk
[29:18-39:16]
- Explosive league growth has led to higher stakes and tense negotiations.
- Frei urges Engelbert:
“I will be the person who, if it's a jump ball between owners and players, I'm on the side of players. I believe that they are the value creation engine.” [31:26] - Compensation comparison: WNBA players get less than 10% of revenue (vs 50% for NBA players):
- Frei: “NBA players get paid every year more than they did the year before because the league is growing ... It's 50%. So in the NBA, 50% of basketball related revenue goes toward compensation of the players. ... No one has estimated [WNBA] to be above 10%.” [38:15]
8. Guiding Principles for Change
[34:56-40:45]
- Keep it Simple, Transparent, Fair:
- Frei: “Just look at the comps ... No black box. Simple, transparent, fair.”
- Be guided by these values especially in CBA talks.
9. How To Move Forward: Leadership Recommendations
[40:52-44:41]
- Frei’s summary for the commissioner:
- Take a beat, listen, and believe the feedback.
- Decide if you want to be the one to repair the relationship.
- If yes, start with an apology.
- Be guided by “simple, transparent, and fair.”
- Shift phase two of leadership from league professionalization to championing players.
- “If you want to be the one who does it, start with an apology and then be guided by simple, transparent and fair. ... If not you, they’ll find someone else who does.” [40:52]
- Morriss: Make this a moment of redemption and global leadership:
“I want the league to treat this as the crisis it is with the very real stakes that, to its credit, it has created. ... This league has a chance to show us how to do better here. And I think doing it better means doing it differently.” [42:03] - Advice for players:
Frei: “If someone comes to you as a different version of themselves, please be open to receiving them ... interact with whatever version of Cathy comes forward in good faith.” [44:21]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On officiating and injuries:
“So many people who came to the league excited to see the gorgeousness and the artfulness ended up seeing, like a street brawl and then their beloved players injured. Chaos ensued.” —Frances Frei [06:30] -
On apology:
“If you repair a relationship, you can actually have more trust than if you, than what you started with. But if you don't attempt to repair a relationship, oh my gosh, it, the pace at which it unravels just accelerates.” —Frances Frei [09:51] -
On transparency:
“What won’t work is 'trust us.' ... You’ve lost all ‘we’ve got this’ privileges.” —Frances Frei [14:01] -
On growth challenges:
“This is in many ways a classic story of a sleepy industry that got onto a rocket ship of growth ... Individuals don't necessarily evolve at the same pace of the external context.” —Frances Frei [29:18] -
Guiding CBA principles:
“Be guided by simple, transparent, fair. ... Don't conjure fairness on your own. Just look at the comps.” —Frances Frei [34:56] -
On acknowledging mistakes:
“I'm not going to try to do it alone. I'm going to bring all of my friends with me who care about a great outcome here, and we're going to get this done in the next three weeks.” —Anne Morriss [43:29]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [03:13] — The “inciting incident”: Nafeesa Collier’s exit interview
- [04:19] — Players’ safety and officiating as crisis points
- [07:42] — League’s dismissive response, lack of trust repair
- [10:16] — The case and structure of a real apology
- [11:18] — How officiating is handled in other leagues
- [17:50] — Kathy Engelbert’s background and strengths/weaknesses
- [21:02] — The need for new leadership approaches
- [29:18] — League’s explosive growth and negotiation stakes
- [34:56] — Simple/transparent/fair: New guiding values
- [40:52] — Summary advice to the league and moving forward
- [44:21] — Advice to players: leave space for growth and redemption
Tone and Language
The hosts’ tone is conversational, slightly irreverent but deeply sincere, using clear analogies and accessible language. They intersperse humor and optimism (“It’s a can-do energy!”) with sharp critiques, and refrain from technocratic jargon.
Takeaways
This episode urges the WNBA—and any organization in crisis—to:
- Own and apologize for missteps, specifically around player safety and lack of transparency
- Adopt best practices from comparable industries rather than “reinventing the wheel”
- Prioritize transparent, fair negotiations and involve a broad, invested coalition in leadership decisions
- Seize crisis as a chance for redemptive, transformative leadership
Both the diagnosis and the prescription here are clear: to avoid a disastrous breakdown, the commissioner and league must pivot from defensive management to empathetic, player-forward, and radically transparent leadership—starting today.