Benney Koch, Staff Writer
In recent years, the WNBA has become more popular than ever. That growth has brought more viewers, sponsorships and attention, but also more scrutiny and vitriol.
Now, the league is at the center of a national political debate — should transgender women be allowed to play in women’s sports?
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham told ESPN that she wants to “protect women’s sports” and believes transgender women should not be allowed to play in the WNBA because of their sex at birth.
Her comments quickly snowballed. Supporters and protesters on both sides have appeared at games, players and coaches have weighed in and sports media has sought out transgender athletes to ask whether they could or would ever try to play in the WNBA.
“Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA “, according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. The agreement does not specifically define whether that means biological sex, gender identity or some other standard.
Enes Kanter Freedom, who retired from the NBA in 2022 after 11 seasons, announced that he planned to declare for the WNBA draft as a transgender woman. He argued that he meets “every single requirement” of the league because, as he sees it, declaring who you are is all that is required.
Royce White, who only played in three games and scored zero points in his NBA career according to ESPN, followed hours later by saying he would also declare for the WNBA draft and that he “sometimes” identifies as a woman for purposes of basketball.
Neither man is demonstrating that there is an existing influx of transgender women trying to enter the WNBA. Rather, they manufacture the eligibility question they claim to be exposing.
In April, a Hennepin County judge found that White had abused his ex-wife and teenage son. He was ordered to have no contact with his ex-wife for 50 years and his son for two years, according to Complex Sports. The judge found White’s family was “plainly in fear” and found several allegations of abuse credible. White denied the allegations and is appealing the ruling.
The argument that White is entering the WNBA debate to protect women is null when a court has found that he abused his wife and child, exposing a larger problem within the debate.
There was not a group of transgender women waiting outside the WNBA draft demanding roster spots. There was not a transgender player threatening the existence of the league. The current controversy was built around a hypothetical situation until two former NBA players decided to insert themselves into the narrative.
A common argument against transgender women playing within women’s leagues is often framed around the idea that men will declare themselves women and enter women’s competition, but the actual transgender athletes being discussed do not fit that hypothetical.
Julie Térat, a transgender French basketball player who has been asked about potentially entering the WNBA, said that playing in the league would be a dream come true but does not believe she could compete at the WNBA’s skill level.
Térat’s reality is much more accurate to transgender athletes as a whole than the hypothetical dreamed up by Kanter Freedom and White.
Even at the college level, transgender athletes represent an extremely small portion of the athletic population. There are over 500,000 NCAA athletes, fewer than 10 identify as transgender, according to GLAAD.
I was a transgender athlete playing softball in Loudoun County in 2023 and 2024, one of 42 approved transgender athletes across Virginia’s 131 school districts over an 11-year period.
After I was approved and made my team, I was at the bottom of the batting order and spent most of my time in the outfield. I was not dominating women’s sports, I was just another kid playing softball, middlingly at that.
Between 2014 and early 2025, the Virginia High School League allowed transgender student-athletes to participate on teams matching their gender identity through a formal waiver and appeal process. Over those 11 years, the league received 48 waiver appeals and approved 42 of them, according to 13News Now.
That system was not perfect. It could be frustrating, invasive and capable of closing the door for some transgender athletes. However, it recognized that there was a difference between a transgender girl trying to participate in sports and a man making a political statement about gender.
Following federal policy changes and executive orders, the VHSL changed its rules in May 2025, restricting participation in girls’ and women’s sports to students assigned female at birth.
Now the WNBA must make its own decision.
If Kanter Freedom and White are going to use the league’s lack of a specific definition to manufacture an eligibility issue, the league may have to create a clearer standard.
That standard should be designed around the actual athletes who are seeking to participate — not the political stunt being created around them.
One possible approach would be a formal eligibility process similar to the one I experienced as a high school athlete, where a transgender athlete’s gender is validated through an established process involving qualified professionals. Another could involve medical criteria for transgender women seeking to compete, such as being professionally diagnosed with gender dysphoria- a requirement to undergo hormone replacement therapy.
Neither system would be perfect, as any additional requirement could create barriers for transgender women or invasive examinations that would also target cisgender women.
The WNBA said that there are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the league and have condemned bad-faith efforts to use the issue to demean or marginalize others. The WNBPA similarly condemned harassment of players and said the union will not be used as a political pawn.
If new rules are necessary, they should be created for the transgender women who want to play in the WNBA, not for individuals fearmongering to make a political point.
The current debate is not evidence that transgender women are taking over women’s sports, it is evidence that the WNBA has once again become a stage for America’s culture wars.
If the people claiming to protect women’s sports are the ones manufacturing the eligibility crisis, the WNBA should be careful not to let them decide what happens next.