Lady Ballers Is Proof That Conservatives Love Making Up Anti-Trans Scenarios in the WNBA

This story originally appeared on Them.

Retired professional basketball players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White recently announced that they plan to identify as women — at least within the sport of basketball — in order to enter the WNBA draft. After people criticized the pair for pulling an obvious publicity stunt to stoke transphobic sentiment, White doubled down.

The retired basketball player — D-League, mind you — posted a picture of himself wearing a long blonde wig to X on August 9, writing, “It came y’all... My 1st wig! Tomorrow I test it on the court. This is my feminine era glow up, did I slay? If y‘all don't ‘yassss queen’ you're transphobic. I really don’t understand all the hatred, I just want to play some hoops with my fellow ladies.”

If it wasn’t clownish enough on its own, the strategy isn’t even original.

In fact, as many online have observed, it’s pulled directly from the plot of conservative outlet The Daily Wire’s 2023 original film Lady Ballers, a “sports comedy” — and we’d put multiple sets of scare quotes around “comedy” if we could — about a group of men who pretend to be trans in order to dominate in women’s sports and “trigger” supporters of trans rights. Aside from having a deeply transphobic premise, it was also widely received as entirely unfunny. Pick a struggle!

The film was originally planned as a documentary, though the Daily Wire had to pivot after no women’s sports leagues agreed to participate, according to the creators Indeed, as much as conservatives love to blow dog whistles about hypothetical men pretending to be trans in order to dominate women’s sports, there have been no documented instances of this happening.

That is, until this very moment. Apparently, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have decided to be the Lady Ballers they wanted to see in the world.

The controversy has forced the WNBA to internally discuss its language around participation, as conservatives attempt to transform the league into the latest arena for the debate on trans exclusion in sports.

In July, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham told ESPN, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men.” That transphobic dog whistle earned her the support of right-wing figures like Riley Gaines, Vice President JD Vance, and President Donald Trump. Despite Cunningham’s claims not being rooted in fact, her supporters have escalated their presence at WNBA games, including protests outside of games. But she has also become a flash point for online right-wing commentary around the league, much of it perpetrated by people with very little interest in women’s sports.

Prominent athletes such as Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe have spoken about how trans-exclusive sports policies actually harm girls, opening the door for legislators to push for mandated invasive sex testing to play school sports.

Since the controversy first ensued, several other prominent WNBA players have made it clear that they support trans rights, as well as trans people’s right to participate in the league. Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson wore a “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” shirt as part of her tunnel fit to a July 29 game against the Indian Fever. And recently an interview Golden State Valkyrie player Gabby Williams gave in May went viral, in which the power forward said, “I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world. It’s just another way to kind of attack trans people.”

Williams went on to point out there have already been trans players in the WNBA like Layshia Clarendon, “who stepped into that forefront, and have been brave enough, and courageous enough, to step up. So I guess that’s the next battle we have to fight as athletes.”

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s newsletters.