Two former NBA starts have been barred from playing in the WNBA – but trans basketballers are still allowed to play.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, who both enjoyed careers in the men’s league, had declared their intentions to enter the 2027 WNBA draft after identifying as women.
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League sources have now said the men are banned from playing in the WNBA, but it remains unclear how that decision was made.
Sources raged to Front Office Sports that the draft declarations were “simply publicity stunts”, adding that the WNBA would not “give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalise others”.
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The WNBA’s eligibility rules are set by the players and the teams under an agreement – but they only have one line addressing the gender issue.
The sole rule in the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) concerning gender is Article XIII Section 1(a), which reads: “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”
That line opens the door for trans athletes to play at the highest level of women’s sports.
Two weeks ago, a letter to WNBA teams, seen by ESPN, revealed the league was actively discussing the rules.
The league is now holding talks amid the row but will not “outside pressure or manufactured controversy to dictate league processes”, the source said.
Freedom, who most recently played professionally for the Boston Celtics, appeared courtside on Sunday at a WNBA game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever.
There, he wore a shirt reading: “WOMAN: Adult human female.”
Chicago Sky player Natasha Cloud began shouting and pointing at him during a timeout, leading to a verbal altercation between the two athletes.
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Fellow Sky players and security intervened before Freedom, who legally changed his surname after becoming an American citizen, was escorted from the arena.
After the game, he said: “I just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
But Cloud then issued a public retort on social media, saying: “To every trans kid/person, you are apart of MY community and tribe. You belong. You’re loved. You’re seen. You’re perfect as you are and you will always be protected by me.”
The Fever won the game 113-90, with Caitlyn Clark, who was recently photographed with Barack Obama, scoring 37, and gender-critical star Sophie Cunningham scoring three.
On Saturday, the Sky had their game against the Golden State Valkyries interrupted after a sex toy was thrown into the court by a fan.
A group of cryptocurrency traders have claimed responsibility for the intrusion, having pulled a similar stunt at six WNBA games last year to raise awareness of their “meme coin”.
But now the group say they are throwing the sex toys to raise awareness of the trans issue, declaring that there will be interruptions “until the WNBA defines what a woman is by biological sex” in a post on social media.
The trans athlete debate has taken over much of the conversation around women’s basketball, with even Cunningham admitting she wants to “get back” to the sport earlier this month.
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