Sports radio host Dan Patrick on Friday ”tore into” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert “for cancelling her appearance on his eponymous show in what he believed was an unprofessional and disrespectful move.” Patrick was slated to interview Engelbert live on-site at the American Century Championship. However, he alluded that Engelbert did not want to “answer the ‘tough’ questions.” Patrick noted that “his people got in touch with Engelbert and she agreed to come on the show earlier this week.” But “when it came to the day of the taping, the WNBA head bailed last-minute.” Patrick said that he “caught wind Engelbert agreed instead to talk to a radio station in Kansas City where she was apparently only asked about WNBA expansion” (SI, 7/11).
Patrick said, “So yesterday after the show, we waited almost two hours for her. This was scheduled. She was going to do a meeting in her hotel room, a conference call, and then she was going to join us.” Patrick: “We thought, okay, we’re going to be able to finally ask questions about Caitlin Clark, the WNBA expansion, a lot of different things. And we waited and we waited and we waited." Word then got out that Engelbert indicated that the “WNBA staff, the PR staff, said that she is not allowed to do this.” He said, “They would prefer that she did not do this.” Patrick: “We reached out to the WNBA all morning long. Just give us a comment. Does anybody have a comment on this? Is anybody there at the office? We couldn’t get ahold of anybody … If you want to be treated as a serious league, then do these. This is what happens. These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you, a fair platform. I will treat you with respect” (“The Dan Patrick Show,” 7/10).
