UPDATE: WNBA to Review Eligibility After Two Ex-NBA Players Declare
“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.”
The WNBA has found itself mired in controversy over the last several weeks after the woke backlash to one of its star players speaking out against men playing in women’s sports.
As Legal Insurrection reported at the time, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was the player in question who talked in a mid-July ESPN profile piece about protecting young girls and women from having to play against boys and biological men:
She’ll weigh in on how to “protect women’s sports,” she says, because she’s in that world and feels qualified to speak to that world. “I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” she says. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Though the comments earned her some new fans, they also earned her some haters, and both her and her fans started getting harassed at WNBA games, including at one Seattle Storm game, where the co-owner of the team, Celeste Keaton, allegedly told the fans to their faces that they were “f**king insane.”
"Security: Take the trash out."
That's what a Seattle Storm fan was heard yelling at teenage Sophie Cunningham fans.
The WNBA team's co-owner is also alleged to have berated the girls wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts and carrying handmade signs thanking Cunningham for her recent… pic.twitter.com/vQ1ekNJXyL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 30, 2026
Cunningham defended the girls, praising them for standing up for their values and criticizing the Storm’s co-owner, remarking that it “shows the type of leader she is.”
But Celeste Keaton hasn’t been the only official of a WNBA team who has acted stupidly amid the debate over Cunningham’s observations. Several female coaches also weighed in, virtue signaling about how sports were supposedly all about “inclusivity” when that could not be any further from the truth.
Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase says men should be allowed in women’s sports.
“Sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self…that includes trans women.” pic.twitter.com/DQX8g7uyTo
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 3, 2026
Things escalated later in the week when a WNBA player, Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams, indicated she’d be okay with a trans player on her team or her opponent’s team:
Gabby Williams speaks on trans athletes in the WNBA
(via gabbywilliams/ig) pic.twitter.com/q2djZrAIuP
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) August 7, 2026
WNBA star Gabby Williams: “I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team.”
pic.twitter.com/XYGxeWrIZo— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 7, 2026
In response to the woketivist noise machine, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom announced Friday afternoon that he was declaring for the WNBA draft:
Former NBA Draft first round pick (3rd overall in 2011) Enes Kanter Freedom, who has been an adamant opponent of LeBron James, the Chinese Communist Party, Nike, along with more political activism, which he believes blackballed him from the NBA, has officially declared himself a prospect for the 2027 WNBA Draft. Yes, I’m serious.
Freedom shared the following statement and video on X:
After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.
If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.
My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.
I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions.
I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices.
I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone — the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.
My team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the #WNBA honoring its stated principles.
See you at training camp.
After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines,
I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.
My team and I have… pic.twitter.com/msncUZUT1J
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) August 7, 2026
And he wasn’t the only one:
EXCLUSIVE: Former NBA player Royce White told Fox News Digital that he apparently plans to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft, as he now claims to be transgender.
[…]
“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White said.
“I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do…
“I think it’s only fair.”
A second former NBA player plans to join the WNBA.
Royce White – a first-round NBA Draft pick in 2012 – told me he will be declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft. The only thing that will stop him is if the WNBA makes a "definitive statement" that males can't play in the league. https://t.co/1TiWv2d8Kp pic.twitter.com/22SsSgoHTf
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) August 8, 2026
As I stated a few days ago, I am declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
I identify as a sometimes identifying transgender woman! My wig is in the mail. pic.twitter.com/lPVsmcMOVD
— Royce White 🇺🇸 (@Highway_30) August 7, 2026
Needless to say, the WNBA Players Association was not pleased with these developments:
“We embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion,” the statement read. “Those are the values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change. Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns.”
The WNBA player's union the WNBPA has released a statement:
"Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns." pic.twitter.com/QuCZrupihs
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) August 7, 2026
As of this writing, the WNBA itself has not released an official statement. But I’m sure if they do, they will completely gloss over the larger point these former NBA players were trying to make and will include a whole lot of yada yadaing about… “inclusivity and respect.”
UPDATE 5:20 PM EST: The WNBA may finally be forced to confront the question its own players and coaches have helped create. According to Clay Travis, the league’s commissioner says the WNBA will meet to review its eligibility standards following the declarations by the two former NBA players. The original story noted that the league itself had yet to issue an official response.
After two former first round NBA draft picks declared for @wnba draft, the WNBA’s commissioner says the league will be meeting to review what a woman is for purposes of league eligibility. These meetings need to be streamed live. That’s must see TV. https://t.co/wEdwVa05Up
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) August 8, 2026
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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Comments
Feel good story of the year.
Alinsky Rules.
Hoist them on their own petard and deservedly so.
The wnba would actually be very smart to allow these men to play, not only will they dominate the sport but more people would actually watch these guys play than the woman.
Their ratings would go up up up.
At minimum the WNBA is gonna have to develop and disclose their definition of ‘trans’. Not merely for the on court competitive aspects but also the locker room, privacy and safety aspects. Is it merely asserting that one ‘feels like a woman’? Is it a requirement that they be turned into the ‘unsullied’? Some point in between?
This and facing an All-State Boys High School champion would be wonderful to watch. Considering the many such high schoolers enter directly into the NBA, this would be devastatingly enjoyable. Gabby Williams is in for a long season.
How will the WNBA get out of this one? I predict lawsuits from the men. I mean women.
The madness of crowds. People embrace these obviously wrong beliefs and cling to them against all evidence. It is something deep in our genes like the urge of lemmings to race into the sea.
The oldest historical example I can think of is The Children’s Crusade, a popular religious movement in Europe during the summer of 1212 in which thousands of young people took Crusading vows and set out to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims.
Some behavioral scientists think humans were bred to be gullible. Back in the day when Og said “Don’t go near that cave, a bear lives in it,” you either believed him or you didn’t. If you didn’t, and he was telling the truth, you could be removed from the gene pool. But if you did believe him, you survived whether or not Og was only joshing. You lived to spread your gullible gene to successive generations. Gullibility was a characteristic that would help you survive, so the gene survived, while selection pressure (an environmental factor that biased selection against a given gene or behavior) tended to eliminate or reduce the effect of “skeptical” behavior.
Human development, however, has long been at a point where, generally speaking, life is more easily survivable (to the point where it is now generally assured), removing the selection pressure against skeptical behavior, leading to people like us who read and make the comments here. We exist because our skeptical ancestors survived long enough to breed, something that wasn’t assured tens of thousands of years ago, when gullibility helped people to survive!
Interesting theory but your illustration of gullibility is too convenient. Gullibility would also apply to the caveman who was led to believe that sabertoothed tigers were docile big kitties or that those little red berries weren’t poisonous, but actually quite healthy.
The fallacy is that it’s not a gullibility gene but a prudence gene.
If Og told you the bear cave was prime real estate for your family (because he thought your mate was hot), that would select AGAINST the gullible, but still select for the prudent.
Mr. Freedom refuses to bow and recite woke dogma? Sounds like he might be an interesting person.
He is, but it made him toxic in the NBA.
The NBA and LeFake are owned by China.
I believe he’s a wanted man in his native Turkey. He can’t return home and requires additional security.
I believe there were threats of a “hit” placed on him.
Isn’t it supposed to be a game for fans to enjoy? The Democrat shock troops will leave no institution untouched with their constant ideological whoring. If these men are actually allowed to play and not ride the bench, there will be some badly injured women on the court.
Including Gabby Williams, if there is any justice in the world.
“But we will not be used as political pawns.”
Nobody forced you to don the motley, chucklehead. Now wear it and perform.
Does anyone care about what a bunch of angry low IQ black thuggish lesbians have to say? No one watched it prior to Caitlin Clark. No one will watch it if she’s gone unless it’s to watch the theater associated with men in the women’s league.
It’d be fun to watch the men play. Whichever team they’re on would win all the games, but hey, that’s how the ball bounces.
The Bride and I already have a good supply of popcorn. Pass the Cokes, salt, and butter.
.
Just don’t make a habit of inhaling that great, buttered popcorn smell. It can lead to “popcorn lung,” a serious and usually fatal affliction. (Serious. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronchiolitis_obliterans)
This is exactly what I’ve been calling for – male B-ballers trying out for WNBA teams. The WNBA will have to sh*t or get off the pot.
“Sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity.”
In a way, this has always been true. What are considered “men’s” sports have always been open to women. They are still largely men’s sports only because most women can’t compete with men at any given level of skill or athleticism. But they have long been welcome to try out for all major sports, and are represented in some traditionally male sports, especially those in which physicality isn’t a limiting factor, such as auto racing.
“Women’s” sports were created because of this general inability of women to compete with men in most sporting endeavors. So, ironically, women’s sports were created due to an acknowledgement of this fact that is now being denied with the lie that “women and men are equal in all ways”; a lie being advanced by some of the same people (players, coaches, team owners) who have benefitted from the fact they are now denying.
My daughter played football in 7th and 8 th grade. Shes a big girl 6 foot, and as girls mature earlier than boys she was bigger in 7 th grade that most of the boys.
She was a starter for 2 years on an undefeated team.
Boys caught up in size and passed her in strength. She didn’t do it to make a profession out of it, it was just fun, loved football, we went to Green Bay several times to practice and games.
She’s a beautiful woman, played D1 basketball has 2 beautiful girls. Many times I have been standing next to her and people just come up and tell her how beautiful she is, so we aren’t talking Dyke material here.
She was lucky to have fallen into a situation where the coach’s supported her, I told her she would probably be sitting on the bench. Little did I know.
She earned the position and played it well.
She absolutely disliked the volleyball girls, catty and ful of themselves, and it played a decision in her wanting to play football, but in truth, she had been asking me since her brother played flag football and she was 4.
Boys playing in girls sports, now that’s a horse of a different color and we all know that.
Even the peole who support men in women’s sports
I played coed soccer for 10 years , I’m sure the men held back on physicality, it was fun. It helped that women’s goals were worth 2 points vs men’s only one. Otherwise, it probably would have been a male fest.
But coed amateur soccer is a choice and not in a league we are discussing
These idiots have put themselves in a corner, can’t wait to see this play out
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Wiki got edited right away.
Royce White
American basketball player (born 1991)
Royce Alexander White is a….trans….American political candidate and former professional basketball player who was the Republican Party’s nominee in the 2024 United States Senate election in Minnesota. White was the 2009 Minnesota Mr Continued in Wikipedia
“But we will not be used as political pawns.”
That ship has already sailed, buddy. The train has left the station. The horse has bolted from the barn.
Give it up. You’ve capitulated to the weirdos who hate science and refuse to acknowledge the obvious differences between men and women, to the mental pygmies who think that being a woman is hypocritically conforming to cultural stereotypes by cosplaying with a little makeup and a little paint to make them what they ain’t. As if all it takes to be a woman is to throw on a dress and try to act (badly) as a girly girl.
You’re the ones who are spewing all the nonsense and bullshit about inclusivity and diversity, so put your money where your mouth is, embrace the suck, and let the guys play in the WNBA. Either that, or change your name to FWNBA (Fake Women’s National Basketball Association) before you get sued for discrimination.
Thanks for the laugh, Stacey. Let’s get these men on the courts and watch them kick some womens’ asses (figuratively speaking)!
Perhaps next, some handicapped people should tryout for the WNBA, and demand “reasonable accomodations”?
Dennis Rodman could have gotten away with it. Probably still could — and likely would be able to play better than any WNBA “star” at 65 years old.
What is the significance of the identification once removed? Is he saying he identifies as a phony
manipulator? I see no other way to read it.
It’s like saying that I identify as an operatic tenor for the purposes of taking a shower.
I love it! Now there should be a whole WNBA team of trans men! No one in the WNBA will ever beat them ! I feel for Sophie and Caitlin, but when the dust settles they will be back playing against women.
Trans men = pretend men.
Trans women = pretend women.
So a team of “trans men” are pretend men. Let the real men illustrate their fallacy in a game. Should be fun to watch but keep the stretchers handy ’cause they’ll need a bunch of ’em.
.
So – the WNBA embraces FAKE women but not FAKE FAKE women?
Got it.
You’re living in an alternate reality if you don’t believe those who grow up with avg male hormones v those who grow up with avg female hormones don’t – on average – have a big advantage in most sports. It’s why a high-end high school boys team can so often out-perform a professional or Olympic female team in their sport.
That said, it’s totally understandable why a (born) male athlete who can’t make the cut to get a job for millions a year in the NBA would settle for 1/2 a million a year playing in the WNBA instead of (say) selling cars or working fast food.
As long as a declaration of “I feel like a woman” is the only barrier to being drafted into the WNBA there is no real WNBA league – it’s just another minor league for the NBA.
Sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity.
No, it isn’t. It’s about performance.
If you want true inclusivity, then make it all one league, and require the women to compete against the men for the starting spots on the team.
……..
Yeah, I thought so.
Never watched WNBA. But I would’nt miss a game with the MEN playing against the women. They asked for it! now have at it.
The ghost of Andy Kaufman has entered the chat…
Predictions on the score with Mr/Ms Freedom playing?
My money is on a 75 point differential.
I love Enis Kanter he is a real mench. He or is it now “they,” will literally crush all of them. I think that would out an end to the entire spectacle of there is no difference between men and women athletes, it’s just labels nonsense.