The continuing saga over the WNBA’s refusal to define what a “woman” is just got curiouser. In a letter to members of Congress, the league’s commissioner declared that a pair of former NBA players seeking to enter the WNBA 2027 draft are ineligible because they are “both men.”
One of those two men questioned the statement’s veracity considering the league still will not define what a “woman” is or its eligibility requirements.
What’s Going on Here?
The transgenders-in-sport controversy ticked up over the summer when Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham expressed her belief that women’s sports and locker rooms should be reserved for biological women. In the wake of her comments, Cunningham and her supporters were labeled “transphobic” and “bigoted” simply for stating the truth.
The WNBA refused to confront the “What is a woman?” question and was content to let Cunningham suffer the brunt of the imbroglio—until former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declared they identified as women and intended to enter the 2027 WNBA draft.
Following the increased dustup caused by Freedom and White, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said a task force would address the “woman” issue.
But the task force failed. In August, the group of team presidents and general managers declared they could not agree on eligibility requirements for female players.
Then in September, Congress got involved.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., sent a letter to Engelbert seeking answers to why the league, in the wake of Freedom’s and White’s announcements, could not and would not define what a “woman” is. The congressman noted that the WNBA’s refusal to “admit that biological males have no place in their league” has made a “mockery of the organization whose eligibility standards should be defined by looking no further than the league name.”
How Did the League Respond?
In a letter first reported by Outkick, which had been given a copy by lawyers representing Freedom, Commissioner Engelbert told Stutzman the former NBA players who declared for the draft could not play in the WNBA because they are men.
“With respect to your questions regarding eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the WNBA and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men,” the commissioner told the lawmakers, according to Outkick.
But the letter from the league never answered “What is a woman?”
Instead, as Stutzman noted in a statement cited by WIBC-FM, the letter simply took the “first step in defining what a woman is for the sports community,” adding, that by defining the former NBA players as “men,” the league at least “acknowledged that identifying as a woman does not change basic human biology.”
What Was Freedom’s Reaction?
Freedom responded to Engelbert’s letter by noting that the WNBA’s ruling that he is ineligible for the draft is illogical.
“The WNBA has been dealing with questions about eligibility and gender identity, yet its commissioner has written a letter to members of Congress declaring that I’m a man,” he told Outkick in a video interview. “If the league is still working through these questions, how can its commissioner be so certain about my eligibility without explaining the standards that she’s applying? What about the task force?”
“If the task force itself has not reached a clear definition, why is the commissioner making such a definitive statement?” Freedom continued, later adding that he believed the commissioner had misgendered him.
“Shame on Cathy Engelbert,” he said after reminding viewers that people can identify as “Pikachu, unicorn, dogs and cats” and the public has to be OK with that, but when he identifies as a woman, the WNBA declares he’s making it up.
“Who is she to tell me how I feel?” he added.
