Cathy Engelbert’s hometown finally gets a WNBA team, and she finally admits she’s happy about it

NEW YORK — Toward the end of one of the biggest news conferences of her time as WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert looked across the room. A reporter she knew had been called on, and she was pretty sure she knew what was coming.

“No more questions about Philly!” she exclaimed.

There was no doubt about the magnitude of the moment when Philadelphia finally was awarded a WNBA expansion team, to begin in 2030, after so many people worked to make it happen.

Alas, there still were questions to ask, including one of the biggest on the subject.

Isn’t she personally happy about her hometown getting a team?

Time after time in the past, when asked about expansion to Philadelphia, Engelbert put up a stone face. She had a reason: The city had to earn a team, not just be given it.

» READ MORE: Philly awarded WNBA franchise that will begin play in 2030

But her reputation precedes her. She was a scoring ace at Collingswood High School, then walked on at Lehigh and rose to team captain under St. Joseph’s alumna Muffet McGraw — and graduated a year before McGraw moved to Notre Dame and became a legend.

Engelbert’s father is a Big 5 Hall of Famer, former St. Joe’s forward Kurt Engelbert. He played against Wilt Chamberlain way back when and did so well for Jack Ramsay on Hawk Hill that he was a fourth-round NBA draft pick in 1957.

So if ever there was a day to finally let her guard down, Monday was it.

The first time she was asked, she didn’t quite answer. A few minutes later, she was asked again. Again, she didn’t quite answer.

So the question came up a third time, since what is Philadelphia if not persistent? And then, at last, she let it out.

“One thing that probably played in Philly’s favor,” she said, “is my knowledge of the love for basketball in that city.”

» READ MORE: How Josh Harris’ bid landed the city a WNBA expansion team: ‘Philly deserves this’

Just two words — my knowledge — were all that so many people had waited to hear. And the other bidding cities wouldn’t have held it against her, because they all know Philadelphia’s grassroots passion for women’s basketball.

They know in Detroit and Cleveland, the other two new winners of the expansion race. That’s why Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem, a Philadelphia native, gave the Big 5 a shoutout in his speech on stage.

They know in Houston, where a bid to bring back the Comets — the WNBA’s original dynasty — is on hold again. And in Charlotte, N.C., where fans wish to revive the Sting for whom Dawn Staley once played. And in many other cities that have tried for a team.

When Harris’ time came to speak, he offered some familiar one-liners about being a father of daughters and how many girls and women can look up to a pro team. But he also got to more important points.

“There was an ongoing process, and we fought our way in,” Harris said, amid reports of a $250 million expansion fee for each new team. “It’s a huge market. It’s about basketball; the fans are passionate. Philly sold it, and then, obviously, we were prepared to invest in all the things you need to build a team and build infrastructure.”

» READ MORE: ‘About time’: Big 5 coaches, Philly’s WNBA stars, and more react to the city finally getting a team

He also spoke specifically about a team-specific practice facility, the current benchmark for judging WNBA teams’ desire to be elite. If this team wants to bring Kahleah Copper or Hannah Hidalgo home in 2030, it will have to compete for them.

“Obviously, this team deserves its own facility,” Harris said. “We’ve got to sort out where that is, but we’re focused on that as well.”

Asked if fans would be involved in picking the nickname, he gave a prompt yes.

“Philly has its opinions, and we welcome that,” Harris said, knowing how many opinions of the 76ers he has “welcomed” in his tenure. “They’re going to be very involved. Obviously, this is for the fans. It’s about the fans. It’s about the city.”

It’s also about the new arena he will open in 2031, or perhaps 2030 if he can speed it up to coincide with the WNBA team’s arrival. That’s been no secret.

“Obviously, we came together on the arena, and literally that day, or right after that, we said, ‘Look, now that we have this. It’s time for a WNBA franchise,’” Harris said. “That was literally next up. And we got together — honestly, I called Adam [Silver, the NBA’s commissioner], I called Cathy, and I said, ‘Look, this has to happen. Philly deserves this.’”

There are people around the sport who believe Engelbert took Harris’ call with more enthusiasm than she took calls from people before him who wanted to bring a team here.

So what did the 76ers offer that others didn’t?

» READ MORE: Philly fans say a WNBA team is ‘very long overdue’

“The whole ownership group’s long-term commitment to making this work in the city of Philadelphia,” she said, “and obviously just the right time for the W. Five years ago wouldn’t have been the right time — four years ago, three years ago.”

That timing coincided with a $75 million capital raise by WNBA owners coming out of the pandemic. Since then, a new generation of stars has shot to prominence, with Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Paige Bueckers joining veterans Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Napheesa Collier on the league’s marquee.

“We’ve been working really hard on transforming the league to get to the point where the value was there for these three cities to come in,” Engelbert said.

Fans might have figured that Staley would be there, having been the biggest and longest-working cheerleader to bring a team here. Perhaps comedian and actor Wanda Sykes, too, since she lit the spark for an expansion push a few years ago.

Their absences were taken to mean they aren’t currently involved. Could they be in the future?

» READ MORE: The Caitlin Clark Effect helped bring the WNBA to Philadelphia. Dawn Staley should be a part-owner. | Marcus Hayes

When Harris was asked, he didn’t name them, but he certainly opened the door.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “This is Day 1. We’re not even approved yet [formally by the WNBA’s board of governors] — we’re just in the approval process — but certainly we’re going to build an ownership group that is inclusive, that recognizes people who care about Philly, that Philly cares about, and who add value to the club. We’re going to definitely do all that.”

He added that “there’s a line out the door, and there’s some obvious choices, and stay tuned.”

Those words were promptly taken to Engelbert, and she added her own endorsement.

“[The] more diverse, more history of basketball in any of the three cities, I think the better,” she said. “Dawn’s a current college coach and obviously was the USA [Olympic] coach for a while — I don’t know if there’s conflicts there; we’d have to talk to the lawyers. But, yeah, certainly we’d love to have former players and coaches [go] into ownership groups.”

It would be no surprise if phones in South Carolina, not just around Philadelphia, are waiting to ring.

» READ MORE: Dawn Staley again advocates for the WNBA in Philly, but not to be the coach: ‘I want ownership’