Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have been deemed ineligible for the WNBA draft. This information comes from a source who spoke to The Associated Press under anonymity due to the situation’s sensitivity. The specific reasons for their ineligibility were not disclosed.
Freedom and White had announced their plans to enter the draft next year. However, the WNBA has not made any public statements regarding their eligibility. The league has been facing discussions on whether transgender women should be allowed to play. To date, there has been no transgender player in the WNBA.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states the league is for women, yet it lacks details on gender identity or birth sex. Freedom and White, upon declaring their draft ambitions, stated their identification as women. Freedom, at 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, played 11 NBA seasons, whereas White participated in three NBA games.
Freedom was removed from a recent Indiana-Chicago game after an altercation involving Sky guard Natasha Cloud in the third quarter. Freedom, wearing a shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” was sitting along the baseline. Following a scoring play, Cloud approached Freedom with gestures and words, leading to a brief confrontation. Security intervened, and Freedom was escorted from the venue, where he engaged with police officers before leaving. On social media, Freedom expressed his frustration over the ejection.
The incident is part of a broader debate within the league about transgender participation. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has publicly opposed transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports, a position that has fueled ongoing discussions. Before the game, Freedom supported Cunningham at a rally outside the arena.
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