Carmelo Anthony says WNBA's next commissioner must prioritize safety: 'Protect the players'

The WNBA , in its 30th season, continues to set records in terms of viewership, attendance, engagement on digital platforms and more as the league’s growth trends even further upward by the year.

However, despite its popularity, the league faces controversy, including the murkiness surrounding sex reassignment eligibility and national anthem protests.

The good and the bad of the WNBA is what a new league commissioner will be dealing with next season, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the WNBA Board of Governors will choose a new one with Cathy Engelbert retiring at the end of the 2026 calendar year.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE He won’t be in the running for the job, but Carmelo Anthony has enjoyed the rise of the "W," and knows what his first order of business would be if he took over as commissioner of the league.

"I’m going to invest in the players," he replied when asked the exact question in a recent interview with OutKick.

"You have to invest in the script.

If you have no script, there’s no movie, there’s no film.

You have to invest in the script, and the script in this case is the players.

"We have to protect the players.

We have to protect them all across the board if we really want people to look at this league as the best women’s league in the world.

So, you have to be intentional with the players and the script.

You have to tighten that and build that, and make them feel comfortable in the situation that they’re in." THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.

DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW! Anthony didn’t elaborate on what exactly the players need to be protected from, but he did lead his way into wanting to hear exactly how players feel about anything.

"This is a partnership.