Mercury Star Calls Out WNBA Commissioner Amid Scheduling Frustration

One of the biggest changes between the WNBA’s 2024 season and 2025 was the league’s decision to expand the number of regular season games from 40 to 44.

One common criticism of the league last year was that there were too many games played in close proximity to each other, which wasn’t necessarily safe for the players. However, one would argue that this was unavoidable, given that the WNBA had to compensate for many of its top players competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which prompted nearly a month-long break for the league in the middle of the season.

Since there’s no such break this season, scheduling conflicts and frustration have been relatively minimal. However, that doesn’t mean every player is content with how their team’s schedule has lined up to this point.

Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally made this clear when speaking with the media after her team’s 89-77 loss to the Seattle Storm on June 7.

“I think this is a conversation that could also be important for the next CBA. [WNBA Commissioner] Cathy [Engelbert] added a lot of games, and us as players, recovery is so important, and we put our bodies on the line every single time,” Sabally said, per an X post from Desert Wave Media.

“We had nine games in 18 days. That’s not really responsible for a commissioner,” she added. “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… It’s just something that obviously, over the course of a long season, that’s really hard to do.”

She later continued, “nine games in 18 days, how much can you recover?… Just making sure that all teams supply the necessary recovery tools, treat professionals as professionals. But also the league being able to work together with players, and not just throw them out there.”

One would imagine this topic will come up again as negotiations for the WNBA’s next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) continue.