It remains to be seen if or how Congress will intervene.
Just under the wire, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has responded to a letter from the GOP Study Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, but the response was found wanting.
On July 7, under the leadership of its chair, U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R -Texas), the committee asked Englebert, in part, to explain how the league intends to “hold players accountable for overly aggressive actions on the court, including towards Caitlin Clark.”
Clark is the superstar Indiana Fever point guard who has put the previously irrelevant WNBA on the map.
According to Outkick in a story published on Wednesday, Englebert apparently waited until the committee-requested July 24 deadline to respond.
“In the response, the commissioner outlined the league’s standard procedures for reviewing officiating and potentially dangerous play but did not address any of the Clark-related incidents cited by the lawmakers individually.”
in a statement provided to Outkick, U.S. Rep. Pfluger seemed unimpressed:
“The WNBA’s response falls short of what we asked for, unsurprisingly. We didn’t request a description of the league’s general officiating and disciplinary procedures, we asked how those procedures have actually been applied in the specific incidents we raised involving Caitlin Clark, and the league chose not to answer that…”
“Until the WNBA is willing to engage with the specifics of our information requests instead of simply restating their own policies back to us, our concerns remain unaddressed. We will continue to press for real answers and keep every option on the table until players are actually getting the protection the league claims they already provide.”
What keeping every option on the table actually means, if anything, remains to be seen.
An employer who harbors a hostile work environment, however, potentially violates federal and state law.
Since Clark entered the league in 2024 after an illustrious career at the University of Iowa, opponents have guarded her as if it’s the red zone at the Super Bowl or the main event at Wrestlemania rather than a basketball game.
Some of have even hyperbolically likened the treatment to a rugby match or a UFC fight.
This often occurs while oblivious or pretend oblivious referees stand around like mannequins and seldom call a foul on any of Clark’s adversaries.
Just about anyone who has attended middle school or high school recognizes bullying for what it is – except perhaps Cathy Engelbert and WNBA on-court officials.
In Clark’s 2024 rookie season, when this misbehavior became evident, Engelbert — the executive whose job it is to pay attention to such things — should have immediately convened a meeting with the refs and informed them that the WNBA strictly prohibits hazing against any player, and they should officiate games with that as a priority.
Teams should have been similarly notified. And the Fever front office should have spoken up.
Engelbert, whose tenure at the head of the league appears to be drawing to a close, seems instead to be intimidated by the WNBA “mean girls” or what journalist/podcaster Jason Whitlock calls “angry feminists,” i.e., the players who are both jealous of Caitlin Clark and fundamentally ungrateful.
It’s been said that the WNBA is more focused on identity than performance.
According to podcaster Ben Daniel who closely follows the league, “the inmates are running the asylum is the perfect analogy when it comes to the WNBA.”
Clark is responsible for the massive, and probably undeserved, pay raises the players received under their new contract, that the teams now fly on private planes, that Fever fans across the country buy tickets and watch her games on TV, and that the elevated level of interest led to the WNBA signing a lucrative media rights deal.
As Whitlock has quipped, Caitlin Clark is “the reason for the season.”
Despite all the pummeling that Clark has endured, there has only been one suspension – for one game – of an opposing player in the famous/infamous throat-punch incident, and that came only because of bad optics and an after-the-fact flagrant foul upgrade.
Ironically, Clark faces a one-game suspension if she gets another technical foul for arguing with the refs over non-calls (she already has seven).
The WNBA seems much more concerned about mean tweets than rough play (the latter which has occurred between other team, too), even though social media trolls permeate the sports world.
[Former ESPN anchor Linda Cohn pointed out that actual death threats, which are obviously reprehensible and disgusting, should be reported to the police and FBI for prompt investigation.]
Reacting mainly to an absurd anti-Clark USA Today column that’s not worth more than just a passing mention here, New York Post writer Kirsten Fleming opined the following:
‘Do folks not realize that Clark probably receives 10 times more nasty, racialized comments and threats than anyone else in the league? But she doesn’t wallow in it or whine about it to the media. It’s the sad state of 2026 that anyone with a public profile will be the recipient of unpleasant messages. Most choose to not acknowledge the demented losers who crave the recognition…
“Clark is a fiery player who like many other athletes chirps at the refs. Plus, in the WNBA there’s a consensus that the level of officiating is poor (or worse)…Haters don’t see her as the generational talent who brought eyeballs, team charter flights and sold-out games in much larger venues than before…”
In a way, the WNBA is a microcosm of the left in general, where bullies consider themselves victims, and where those preaching inclusion actually practice exclusion, as enabled by certain sports media commentators.
In an interview with Outkick, U.S. Rep. Pfluger said that ”how the WNBA treats its own biggest star will show whether the league is actually committed to protecting the players carrying it forward.”
Separately, the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago on July 25 apparently was an embarrassment, if not a disaster.
Various players with an entitlement mentality reportedly treated it like a big joke, with the exception of Clark and a few others, including Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell, who tried to make the game competitive for the fans in attendance who paid good money for tickets.
This is yet another argument for sports leagues to name their All-Stars but abandon the idea of playing an exhibition game where players for various reasons expend minimal effort.
With the resumption of the regular season, Clark and Mitchell combined for 60 points in a 105-95 win over the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night.
The Fever now have an 18-10 record, and if they can stay healthy, they can contend for the league championship once the playoffs start. Center (and All-Star) Aliyah Boston left the game with a knee injury, however.
The Fever next play the Portland Fire in Portland on Friday night.
Since the WNBA is ongoing soap opera, a non-game incident reportedly occurred between supporters and critics of Fever forward Sophie Cunningham, which inexplicably included a Storm co-owner.
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