© Rick Scuteri/Imagn
Audio By Carbonatix
The rapid growth of the WNBA in recent years had led not only to an increase in fans, but also an increase in teams due to league expansion. That, in turn, has led to a larger, more condensed schedule, and Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally is not a fan.
Sabally, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 WNBA Draft and a two-time All-Star, directly called out commissioner Cathy Engelbert when voicing her frustration with the league moving from a 40-game schedule to 44 games.
Mercury forward Satou Sabally on the heavy WNBA schedule, where the number of regular season games expanded from 40 to 44 this season:
“I think this is a conversation that could also be important for the next CBA. Cathy [Englebert] added a lot of games, and [for] us as players,… pic.twitter.com/O0cp1kLsgw
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 9, 2025
“Cathy (Engelbert) added a lot of games and us as players, recovery is so important. We put our bodies on the line every single time and we had nine games in 18 days. It’s not really responsible for a commissioner,” Sabally said. “I think other teams have like three back-to-backs, so it’s just a lot of things that we could clean up in terms of scheduling…over the course of a long season, that’s really hard to do.”
Sabally makes a salient point. Nine games in 18 games is difficult. But it’s also not that unheard of over the course of an 82-game NBA season. And part of growing a league, which Engelbert is trying to do (and largely succeeding at!), is having additional product to sell to television and streaming networks. Those are the deals that increase visibility, marketability, and ultimately, team income and player salaries.
Being a professional athlete is extremely difficult. It is taxing both physically and mentally. But that is also what the money and fame are for. That is part of what separates pro athletes from the rest of the population. At some point, it’s up to WNBA players to decide if they really want to see the league continue to grow.