Charles Barkley declares WNBA is 'for women only' after ongoing transgender athlete debate
NBA Hall of Famer and sports commentator Charles Barkley declared Monday that the WNBA is "for women only. Period."
During an interview on CNN host Michael Smerconish's podcast, Barkley commented on former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom being removed from a WNBA game Sunday night after being confronted by Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Critics have accused Freedom of deliberately stirring up controversy by wearing a T-shirt that read "WOMAN noun. adult human female."
Barkley responded that while he respects the transgender community, he believes "under no circumstances" should biological men play against biological women and criticized NBA and WNBA leadership for failing to address that.
"I'm disappointed in [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver and Cathy [Engelbert] the [WNBA] commissioner," Barkley said. "First of all, you can't let stupid stuff go out to the internet, which is one of the worst things that ever happened to the world. They should have come out two weeks ago before all this. People are looking for attention now...but [Freedom] has a point though, because Cathy and Adam haven't said, 'Hey, it's in the title, WNBA."
Barkley urged the commissioners to come out and draw a line in the sand, saying, "'There's no transgender people going to play in the WNBA. If you don't like it, kick rocks. And we're not going to discuss it anymore.'"
"And Enes is trying to get attention," Barkley continued. "'No, we're not doing that either. The WNBA is for women. And listen, this is the last time we're going to discuss it. We're not going to turn it over to the fools on the internet. We're not going to turn it over to Congress and things like that. The WNBA is for women only. Period.'"
Barkley added that between stories like Freedom's removal from a game and the backlash against Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham opposing biological males in female sports, the WNBA is gaining a bad reputation.
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"When's the last time you heard something positive about the WNBA? I can't even remember. And I'm a WNBA fan," Barkley said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the NBA and WNBA for comment.
Jennifer Sey, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, praised Barkley's comments for speaking "the truth" out loud to his audience.
"Elite athletes have always known the truth about sex and sports. Charles Barkley is just bold enough to say it out loud," Sey said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Independent Women ambassador Peyton McNabb agreed with Sey, telling Fox News Digital, "It really is that easy to say. If the WNBA wants this conversation to go away as badly as they claim, then stop dancing around it and stand up for women. Say the league is for women, period. What are they so afraid of? They continue to create this controversy for themselves by refusing to say something that should be so simple. Charles Barkley had no problem saying it - why does the WNBA?"
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Director of Independent Women's Law Center May Mailman, however, expressed doubts that Barkley's comments would sway public responses to protecting women's sports.
"Men should not play in women’s sports, and everyone knows what that means. The real question is whether Barkley speaking up will give others confidence to do so. And unfortunately, it’s hard to see that, because Sophie, after many years, got the confidence to do so, and she’s nearly had her head taken off at games and has fans showing up to protest her," Mailman said.
The WNBA came under controversy after both Freedom and former NBA player Royce White declared their intentions to join the WNBA in response to the players and coaches supporting transgender players.
Though the sports league's rules state that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," the WNBA rules do not define what a "woman" is.