WNBA strongly denounces 'bad-faith efforts' by NBA has-beens claiming to be trans to join league

This story originally appeared on Them.

The WNBA has commented on the growing number of outsiders trying to use the league’s gender eligibility policies to stir up controversy.

Following news that two former NBA players, Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom, plan to register for the WNBA draft by simply saying they identify as women, the league has spoken out against these shameless and transphobic stunts.

“There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” a league spokesperson told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The statement came after a meeting in which an anti-hate task force composed of team presidents and general managers met to discuss several topics, including transgender athletes.

The WNBA’s policy currently states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” with no language explicitly referencing gender identity or sex assigned at birth.

Last Friday, Freedom declared that he would be exploiting this vagueness in the WNBA language in order to declare himself a draft candidate.

“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” Freedom wrote on X on August 7. “Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.”

Since Freedom’s initial announcement, he has made more public statements on X, including a post showing him signing the paperwork to register for the draft and another workout vid captioned, “Let ‘The Transition’ to the @WNBA begin.”

Despite this dog whistle, Freedom initially claimed that his stunt was not meant to poke fun at trans people, saying that he is “definitely not here to mock, make fun of or disrespect any community or personal choices.”

Shortly after Freedom’s declaration, former NBA player Royce White, who is also running for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, declared that he would seek to play in the WNBA, with even more vitriolic language.

“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 told Fox News. “I think the WNBA could come out and make a definitive statement about guys with a pair of balls playing in the Women’s Association,” he continued.

White also said that he doesn’t “want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment. I’m a young Black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete.”

White has said there would be a “huge legal battle” if he was not allowed to play. Since his announcement, he has started making right-wing media appearances wearing a blonde wig, claiming it’s transphobic if people question his motives for joining the WNBA.

As the Associated Press, there has never been a trans woman on a WNBA roster and there is no legitimate trans athlete currently trying to declare for the 2027 draft. Of course, such an ecosystem for any potential trans athletes is by design. One of the talent pools for the leagues’ draft is the NCAA, which does not currently allow trans women athletes to play following pressure from a February 2025 Trump administration executive order while many states in general do not allow trans women athletes to play basketball with their cis peers in school.

The Wednesday WNBA meeting did not end in any new policies or statutes being adopted regarding trans athlete eligibility, according to the Sports Business Journal. The meeting covered both trans eligibility as well as online discussions, including social media vitriol, currently surrounding the league. One source told the Journal that the task force plans to meet again in the next few weeks or months with “stakeholders,” including WNBA players.

Some of the social media conversations talked about in the meeting could include recent controversies surrounding Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham, whose anti-trans rhetoric has been the source of much online chatter and even some disruptive IRL protests at WNBA games.

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