Cathy Engelbert is expected to exit her job as WNBA commissioner after the current collective bargaining agreement negotiations are complete, sources tell Sports Business Journal. Her anticipated departure was shared with SBJ prior to criticisms she received on Tuesday from star player Napheesa Collier.

"She hasn't connected; she's not a relationship builder, which you have to be in that job with the teams, with the players," a source familiar with league office dynamics said last month. "I think she's a wicked smart business person, and the success she gets a lot of credit for. But a commissioner has to have a personality element that can touch every constituent that they have. I think she's just lacking in it.

"You're where you are now, you have got to get through this labor negotiation. After that, it wouldn't surprise me if she did a victory lap and rode off back into the corporate world somewhere."

A spokesperson for the WNBA called the comments "categorically false."

"She's not a people person," said another source familiar with Engelbert. "That's not who she is. It has been an issue [before CBA negotiations]."