Once again, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert finds herself under scrutiny as the fallout from the Caitlin Clark incident continues to intensify.

Last month, the league and Engelbert were thrust into another whirlwind of controversy after Caitlin Clark, arguably the most prominent figure in the league, was punched in the throat by an opponent during an Indiana Fever game.

Amidst this turmoil, Engelbert was set to appear on the Dan Patrick Show, something the radio host revealed in advance of the planned appearance.

However, according to Patrick, Engelbert’s appearance was abruptly canceled at the urging of the WNBA’s public relations team.

Engelbert was in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, attending the American Century Championship golf tournament, where the show is typically recorded.

And Patrick had promoted the interview with the Commissioner, which had been scheduled for Thursday, throughout the week. 

Yet, when the allotted time rolled around, Patrick claimed that Engelbert, who has served as the WNBA’s commissioner for seven years, did not show. 

Patrick said he and his producers ‘waited almost two hours’ for Engelbert, contacting the WNBA multiple times before getting a ‘feeble’ response. 

‘And then we got word that the commissioner said that the WNBA staff, the PR staff, said that she is not allowed to do this,’ Patrick said. ‘They would prefer that she did not do [the interview].

‘Did you check with PR before you said yes to us?’

He continued to insist that if the WNBA wanted to be treated as a top league in the United States then its commissioner should be willing to face the music. 

He admitted he was preparing to ask some tough questions, but nothing unfair that Engelbert shouldn’t have to answer to. 

‘I thought this was going to be a good thing for the WNBA because people still want answers here,’ Patrick said. ‘There’s so many people who have an opinion, agendas here, and this was a chance to sit down.

‘And yes, would the questions be tough? Yes, yes. And I’m sure that had something to do with [Engelbert canceling]… So, it’s just disappointing.’

Engelbert’s cancelled interview comes after Patrick, like the majority of news outlets and networks in the US, has extensively covered the fallout from the punch on Clark.

The Fever guard was driving to the hoop when she fell to the ground in the paint while under pressure from a number of Mercury defenders.

Three rival players were battling to strip the ball away from Clark and succeeded in doing so. But, while Clark was down on the floor, Mercury star Alyssa Thomas charged in and put her closed fist into the Fever superstar’s neck.

The WNBA’s lack of reaction to Thomas’ punch on Clark has sparked a firestorm directed at the player, officials and the league for what some believe is a routine failure to protect the Indiana Fever star.

Even a group of 11 Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to Engelbert earlier this week demanding that the WNBA Commissioner take ‘accountability’ for the ‘multiple attacks’ on Clark.

The congressmen and women, led by US Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, questioned how she intends to keep players, namely Clark, safe on the court.

The letter describes Clark as ‘the face of your league,’ crediting her for increased fan interest, television ratings and corporate sponsorships,

In the days that followed the punching incident, Thomas said she was racially abused online and received threats toward herself and her family – including her children.

She directed frustration at the WNBA and Engelbert, whom she criticized for being silent on the issue.

‘The league has to do better in this instance,’ Thomas said. ‘Honestly, I didn’t even know I was being suspended until 10 minutes before it was being put on social media. We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy.

‘It’s no surprise. You can see what’s being said on social media. It’s unfortunate, but as usual, she remains silent. That’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.

‘Just the whole narrative that’s being painted out there,’ she continued. ‘It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this over basketball.

‘A lot of us, myself included, didn’t even know the play took place until after the game. And now we’re being painted as thugs. And [there are] death threats out on us, so it’s really unacceptable. It’s something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it.’

As reported by ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Engelbert and Thomas did exchange text messages. The Commissioner is said to have directed league security to get in touch with Phoenix security over the threats to Thomas.

Engelbert also released her own statement last week, saying: ‘The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate. The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league’s top priority.

‘We are aware of Alyssa Thomas’ comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players.’

The preliminary hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, concluded without a ruling from Judge Tony Graf Jr. in Provo, Utah, on Friday. The proceedings, spanning an entire week, unveiled a significant array of evidence to the public.

Robinson, 23, faces charges of shooting the 31-year-old Kirk from a sniper’s position on a rooftop during a Turning Point USA event held at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025.

Judge Graf granted a request from the defense, allowing them to submit briefs before he determines if the case against Robinson should advance to trial. This decision extends the process by approximately six weeks, with the next hearing scheduled for September 1, nearly a year after Kirk’s tragic assassination.

The case has ignited considerable public interest, fueled by both lengthy proceedings and conspiracy theories concerning the events in Orem last year. Many of these theories were systematically debunked through the evidence presented in court over the past week.

The claims:

Kirk’s cause and manner of death

Although Robinson’s defense team objected to showing his autopsy report in court, testimony from Utah State Bureau of Investigation Agent David Hull listed his death as a homicide caused by a gunshot wound to the neck.

The testimony included no indication that the forensic pathologist who handled the autopsy found anything inconsistent with that conclusion, ruling out theories involving an exploding microphone.

While there has been some speculation about the lack of a visible “exit wound” in graphic video of Kirk’s murder, the doctor who performed the autopsy was still confident it was the gunshot that killed Kirk.

James Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and Fox News contributor, said that over his 25-year career, he’s seen .22-caliber rounds go all the way through a human body, and much larger .45-caliber rounds hit a bone, muscle or even soft tissue and stop.

“Suppositions like this highlight a complete ignorance of ballistics and are typically spouted by those who have never stood alongside a medical examiner conducting homicide victim autopsies,” Gagliano said. “It’s to be expected that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms’ ‘inconclusive’ determination in attempts to match bullet fragments from Kirk’s body with the murder weapon would cause conspiratorial conjecture.”

The forensic pathologist recovered bullet fragments from Kirk’s body, which were sent to the ATF for testing. Although tool marks on the fragments themselves were inconclusive, the caliber was consistent with a spent cartridge casing found in the suspected murder weapon — which authorities allege had Robinson’s DNA on it.

On the other hand, the defense may have fanned some flames by playing up evidence of other, unrelated weapons recovered at the scene.

The defense noted that investigators found an empty pistol holster just steps from where Kirk was killed as well as an unfired .223 round on the roof of another building.

Robinson is shorter than the suspect seen on UVU surveillance video

According to this theory, the suspect is several inches taller than Robinson, who is listed as standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighing around 150 pounds, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

The video isn’t the only evidence that prosecutors say places Robinson at UVU, however. They have surveillance video of a Dodge Challenger coming and going. He allegedly encountered a Spanish Fork police officer who ran his license plates. And his DNA was allegedly recovered from a screwdriver found near the sniper’s perch and on the suspected murder weapon, hidden in a “wooded area” just steps away from campus.

Tayler Hansen, an independent journalist, attempted to recreate the suspect’s route across campus to test and debunk this theory with a video of his own.

“I went down there and decided to capture as close to the same angles as I could, compare myself, because I’m six-feet-tall, and the new conspiracy is that the real shooter, what they’re claiming, is anywhere between six-foot-two to six-foot-three,” he told News Media Friday.

Although he didn’t have access to the campus surveillance footage, he said he did his best to place his camera at the same angle and height as the school’s cameras. Then he retraced Robinson’s steps and compared their heights.

“I was slightly taller, just in the ever slight amount,” he said. “And that’s enough right there, I mean it’s enough to say, ‘OK guys, let’s move on to the next one.'”

Robinson wasn’t even on campus

Again, investigators alleged they can place Robinson on campus multiple times the day of the murder with video, physical and digital evidence.

They say he arrived in the morning, entered the campus, left, and came back later with different clothes on, following virtually the same path. And they showed a compilation video taken by UVU surveillance cameras showing all of that.

Additionally, Robinson allegedly made contact with some Turning Point USA representatives on campus.

In addition to the evidence mentioned above, police also obtained a Cellebrite extraction from Robinson’s phone, according to testimony throughout the week. Such extractions include information about calls, texts, app usage and location and phone tower data. Robinson’s defense attorneys have not introduced any phone data that could place him somewhere else at the time of the murder.

Maroon shirts

Another conspiracy theory promoted on social media claims that there are “many” young men who decided to wear maroon shirts and light shorts on the day Charlie Kirk was killed, stating “without a clear image, they certainly cannot declare it is Tyler Robinson.”

A compilation video played in court shows the suspect in two different outfits — one of which included a maroon T-shirt. In the other, he wore a black, long-sleeved shirt. Prosecutors have alleged Robinson appears to be both of them, and they also have video of the suspect getting out of a gray Dodge Challenger in the school’s parking garage — the same kind of vehicle Robinson drove.

In addition to the suspect wearing a maroon T-shirt at UVU, Robinson was also wearing a maroon T-shirt when he surrendered to authorities, video shows.

Claims that Lance Twiggs was never interviewed

Lance Twiggs, Robinson’s former roommate and lover, sat for multiple interviews with authorities, including one that the prosecution attempted to play video of in court. After some objections from the defense, a redacted version was shown.

It was between Twiggs and Deputy Utah County Attorney Ryan McBride, one of the prosecutors on the case. Additional investigators were present but not shown on camera, including Agent Brian Davis of the Utah SBI.

The highly anticipated video was a huge part of the hearing this week.

Foreign government involvement

The defense tried hard not to allow the public to hear testimony from Twiggs or see text messages, Discord chat logs or the handwritten note Robinson left for Twiggs — all three of which include what appear to be admissions of guilt.

Graf allowed that evidence, however, and the defense showed nothing to indicate there was a foreign conspiracy involved in Kirk’s murder.