The WNBA has limited options after two men declared for the draft, and those options aren't great
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White put the WNBA in an almost impossible spot on Friday when they declared for the 2027 Draft in the wake of the Sophie Cunningham drama, and the ways out are limited.
Frankly, none of them are great for the league, which is, presumably, the point. Unless, of course, both former NBA stars are just itching to get back in the game of basketball.
I doubt it, though.
For those who missed it, Kanter and White called the WNBA's bluff by both declaring their intention to enter next year's draft within hours of each other Friday evening.
"If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA," Freedom stated in a social media post.
"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 later added. "They’re going to have nightmares, and they should. I really feel like I’m going to be dominant."
What a moment for those two! Trailblazers. They'll be like modern-day Jackie Robinsons next year when they hear their names called.
Of course, there is a long way to go to get to that point. A loooooooooong way. It's more likely than not that it never happens, which I'm assuming both guys (girls?) would prefer.
That would mean the WNBA stepped in and told both they were not eligible for the draft because they are very clearly not women. That's the best case scenario for them, and the worst case for the WNBA.
It would shatter all the performative nonsense they've shoved down our throats for the past month/year/decade.
So, here are a couple options forward, best I can tell ...
This is probably the cleanest break, and it's certainly in the WNBA's wheelhouse. The league is rudderless. They could simply come out and say, "We're aware of two former NBA players recently declaring for next year's draft. They are ineligible under the current league rules. We have no further comment."
Refusing to elaborate is the best play for the league, mainly because the "reporters" who cover the WNBA are shills for the league and refuse to ask any actual questions. I can assure you that most of them are disgusted by White and Freedom, and would love this story to go away. They will most likely play ball.
OutKick is already basically banned from most WNBA events at this point, so don't depend on us asking them to elaborate. They wouldn't let us get within a MILE of a WNBA facility after making this statement.
Dan Zaksheske's face would be plastered on the walls of every locker room. Jon Root would have a restraining order out on him around every WNBA arena. It would be the most non-inclusive inclusive league of all time.
I can't believe I just wrote the word "cisgender." Lordy. What a time to be alive.
Cisgender means a person's gender identity matches the sex they were identified as at birth. The league could say the two have publicly lived and identified as men, rather then as transgender women, and therefore don't meet the draft requirements.
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Those requirements are laid out in Article XIII, Section 1(a) of the WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement. They say, "Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," but doesn't define the word "woman" and there is nothing about gender identification.
Not a very inclusive bargaining agreement for a league that prides itself on it. Tisk tisk.
The WNBA probably won't go this route because the immediate follow-up question would be, "Fine. What distinguishes an eligible transgender woman from Enes Kanter Freedom?"
Again, you'd need actual media in the room to ask that question, so perhaps the league can explore this option.
Another fun one! The league could scramble and put a clause into the rulebook that outlines who can and cannot play in the WNBA.
For example, something along the lines of, "Trans women can only enter the draft after showing proper transition history and hormone levels." The league could create some sort of criteria out of thin air — most of these trans arguments are created out of thin air, so this would be easy — and wiggle their way out of the mess that way.
If they go this route, they get to remain the proper level of woke, but also keep White and Freedom out of the league ... for now.
This kicks the can down the road.
I call this the "I-4 of routes." For those who live in Florida, you know that Interstate 4, which runs through the middle of the state, is a hellscape. I believe at one point, it was the deadliest highway in America.
It's horrible. I've seen things happen on that interstate that still give me the shivers to this day.
The WNBA coming out and saying both men cannot play in the league because they are ... men ... is the I-4 of routes they could take here. No shot this is happening. The narrative would crumble. The virtue-signaling and pandering and gaslighting would end.
The trans community would be furious. The left would revolt. It would be anarchy.
Remember, this is the league that has made trans rights its "battle," as Golden State star Gabby Williams stated earlier this summer. Saying Freedom and White can't play because they are biological men would shatter the entire narrative. It would be over.
This is the easiest and sanest route to take, which means the WNBA will do what most Florida folks do and avoid I-4 at all costs.
Finally, the league could just lean into this and let the chips fall where they may. This is the nuclear option. This is the WNBA simply refusing to bow down to sanity and instead lean into the skid.
The whole "trans rights" movement has been the left's proverbial hill to die on for years now. YEARS. There is simply no going back now. They can't. If they pivoted, it would undo everything.
So, the WNBA says both dudes are eligible for the draft, closes its eyes, and hopes to God someone doesn't die on the court.
This would set an unprecedented ... precedent ... and most likely be the beginning of the end for the WNBA.
Most of the sane people would leave because of how ridiculous it would be — not to mention a complete slap to the face of all the actual women in the league — and things would crumble.
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Sophie Cunningham would probably quit and run for Congress. Caitlin Clark would take her business overseas. Angel Reese would continue getting "mebounds" and promoting her Barbie dolls.
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And Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White would put up historical numbers for a few games before the league eventually folded for good out of shame.
What a time to be alive.
Your move, WNBA!