WNBA Draft Eligibility Debate Heats Up with Transgender Female Athletes
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The article noted, “Two former NBA hoopers, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, have already declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, simply by saying they identify as women and therefore they are immediately eligible for the competition.”
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The AtlanticWhy shouldn’t Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White play women’s basketball? The answer is simple: They’re not female. By all evidence, the two former NBA players have XY chromosomes—White has fathered children—and have been through male puberty. They have significant athletic advantages over female athletes and should not be eligible for the WNBA. To reach this conclusion, I don’t need to peer into the pair’s souls to see whether they’re pink or blue, nor do I need to decide whether they are sincerely applying for the WNBA draft or just trolling.
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At least three fans were asked by WNBA security personnel to cover shirts that had messages about transgender women participating in women’s sports during Sunday’s game at Atlanta between the Dream and the Indiana Fever.
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BreitbartBoth the WNBA and the Atlanta Dream criticized security at the Atlanta Gateway Center Arena for telling a mother and daughter to cover their “XX-XY Athletics” shirt in support of Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham.
The Daily Wire“The league issued this statement earlier today,” the Dream added. “‘The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night’s game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts. This should not have happened.'”
The AtlanticThe backdrop to this stunt is the controversy over the Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who told ESPN last month, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” and has been mocked as “MAGA Barbie” because of her views. The players’ union put out a statement condemning the “hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people.”
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“Biology and science is offensive?” Kasey asked. But Kasey and Annie ultimately put on the offered Atlanta Dream “Wellness & Health Night” shirts so that they could see the end of the game — which the Fever won, 95-91.
5 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 RealClearPolitics Boys Will Be Boys--But in the WNBA?
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02 The Atlantic Although, let’s be clear, they are trolling. On August 6, Freedom sent a letter to the WNBA’s commissioner that might as well have read: Hello—I would like some attention. The 34-year-old, whose NBA profile lists him at 6 foot 10 and 250 pounds, played pro basketball for 11 seasons. Now he wants to register for the women’s draft. He argued on X that he is “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.” In an interview on Friday, he imagined catching a pass from the Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, dunking the ball, and then bumping chests with her—“which I’m allowed to do,” he said, “because I’m now a woman.”
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03 Associated Press The league said in a statement Monday that the fans should have been free to wear the shirts.
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04 The Daily Wire Then, the security guard pointed at Kasey and her daughter. In a matter of minutes, they went from fans enjoying the game to problems that had to be dealt with.
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05 Breitbart “I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham told ESPN.
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Sources (5)
- breitbart
- atlantic
- dailywire
- rcp
- ap