{"id":2621,"date":"2026-08-25T15:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2621"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:38:19","slug":"enes-kanter-freedom-responds-after-wnba-says-hes-not-a-woman-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blueroutejournal.com\/?p=2621","title":{"rendered":"Enes Kanter Freedom Responds After WNBA Says He\u2019s Not A Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

The WNBA has a rule saying only women can play. What it doesn\u2019t have, at least publicly, is an explanation of what exactly makes someone a woman.<\/p>

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Enter Enes Kanter Freedom.<\/p>

The former NBA player is putting that question to the test after ESPN reported that multiple sources around the league said he and fellow former NBA player Royce White are not eligible to play in the WNBA.<\/p>

There\u2019s a reason two former NBA players suddenly want into the women\u2019s league.<\/p>

Both men have declared themselves women and eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft. The move is meant to force the league to confront a question that has been hanging over it for weeks.<\/p>

Who qualifies as a woman under WNBA rules?<\/p>

Article XIII, Section 1(a) of the WNBA\u2019s collective bargaining agreement states: \u201cOnly players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.\u201d<\/p>

That\u2019s it.<\/p>

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The agreement does not go on to define the word \u201cwoman,\u201d and the WNBA does not have a publicly available policy governing the eligibility of transgender or intersex athletes, according to ESPN.<\/p>

So when Fox News host Laura Ingraham pressed Freedom Monday night on whether he is actually a transgender woman, Freedom turned the question back to the league\u2019s rules.<\/p>

\u201cListen Section 13 right Uh Article 13 Section 1 says if you identify as a woman then you\u2019re allowed to play,\u201d Freedom said.<\/p>

Ingraham asked whether that meant he was identifying as a woman.<\/p>

\u201cI identify as a woman, sure, yes,\u201d Freedom responded.<\/p>

Freedom\u2019s description goes further than what the CBA actually says. The agreement does not state that simply identifying as a woman makes someone eligible. It says only that players who are women may play, without publicly explaining how the league determines who meets that requirement.<\/p>

And that\u2019s the loophole Freedom is trying to expose.<\/p>

\u201cBut right now if you identify as a woman you\u2019re allowed to play and I am identifying as a woman and I am I should be allowed to play it,\u201d Freedom told Ingraham.<\/p>

The WNBA didn\u2019t find itself answering questions about transgender athletes because of Freedom, however.<\/p>

That started with Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>

Cunningham set off a national debate earlier this summer when she spoke out against biological men competing against women and girls.<\/p>

\u201cI got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I\u2019m like, I never once said that,\u201d Cunningham told ESPN. \u201cI think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men.\u201d<\/p>

Cunningham later described her position as \u201ccommon sense.\u201d Her comments turned what had largely been a broader political debate into a very real WNBA headache.<\/p>

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Protests and counterprotests began following the Fever on the road. Other players weighed in. The league was suddenly facing questions about who should be allowed to compete in women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>

There was just one problem. There wasn\u2019t actually a transgender player attempting to enter the WNBA.<\/p>

Freedom and White decided to change that.<\/p>

Freedom played 11 seasons in the NBA, while White was a first-round NBA Draft pick in 2012. Both men declared themselves women and eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft, transforming a largely hypothetical debate into a direct challenge to the league\u2019s eligibility language.<\/p>

Freedom then took the fight courtside.<\/p>

He attended Sunday\u2019s Indiana Fever game against the Chicago Sky wearing a black shirt that read, \u201cWOMAN noun. adult human female.\u201d<\/p>