Cathy Engelbert Says No Discipline for Aces as Salary Cap Investigation Ends

The WNBA investigation into the Las Vegas Aces for salary cap circumvention has ended. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league found insufficient evidence to impose any discipline, speaking Saturday at her annual All-Star news conference at the United Center in Chicago.

The league opened the case on May 18, 2024, one day after the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said it would pay each Aces player $100,000 a year for two years. The players were not asked to do anything beyond playing for Las Vegas. The WNBA hired the law firm Kobre & Kim to run the review.

The collective bargaining agreement bars teams from arranging with a sponsor to pay players for basketball services. One team executive told The IX that clubs were permitted roughly $150,000 a year in team marketing agreements at the time, counting $100,000 in marketing money and $50,000 in offseason bonuses. The LVCVA payments were about $40,000 more than the league minimum salary over those two years.

Engelbert said at the 2024 All-Star Game in Phoenix that outside counsel was still working. She told The IX in September 2025 there was no update. Aces owner Mark Davis said last October he did not know the status of it either.

The LVCVA dropped the payments this year. Steve Hill, who runs the authority, said the arrangement was meant as a bridge for players until the next labor deal. The league and the players' union agreed to that CBA in March. The rookie minimum this season is $270,000, more than the maximum salary was in 2025.

This was the second investigation into the Aces in three years. The WNBA rescinded the team's 2025 first-round pick in May 2023 and suspended Aces coach Becky Hammon for two games without pay. The team violation involved promises of impermissible benefits during extension talks with Dearica Hamby. Hammon's suspension came under the league's Respect in the Workplace policy, over comments she made about Hamby's pregnancy.

That review included interviews with 33 people and a look at texts, emails, and other documents. Additional concerns raised during it about the Aces in free agency were not substantiated.

Davis has denied that the organization broke any rules. In 2024, Hammon said the team had nothing to do with the LVCVA deal. Las Vegas swept Phoenix in the 2025 Finals for its third title in four years. A'ja Wilson was named Finals MVP.

Engelbert was asked Saturday whether she would be commissioner at the start of the 2027 season. She said she would continue to do her job. ESPN's Alexa Philippou has reported that multiple high-ranking team sources believe 2026 will be her last year in the role. Hammon told CNBC Sport in November that the league might need a change in leadership.

Alyssa Thomas criticized Engelbert last month after the league upgraded her foul on Caitlin Clark to a Flagrant 2 and suspended her one game. Engelbert was booed during the Commissioner's Cup presentation in June.

Engelbert also said the WNBA will open a centralized replay center for the start of the 2027 season. She did not commit to a Last Two Minute report.