WNBA strongly denounces 'bad-faith efforts' by NBA has-beens claiming to be trans to join league

This story originally appeared on Them.The WNBA has commented on the growing number of outsiders trying to use the league’s gender eligibility policies to stir up controversy. Following news that two former NBA players, Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom, plan to register for the WNBA draft by simply saying they identify as women, the league has spoken out against these shameless and transphobic stunts.“There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” a league spokesperson told the Associated Press on Wednesday. The statement came after a meeting in which an anti-hate task force composed of team presidents and general managers met to discuss several topics, including transgender athletes. The WNBA’s policy currently states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” with no language explicitly referencing gender identity or sex assigned at birth.Last Friday, Freedom declared that he would be exploiting this vagueness in the WNBA language in order to declare himself a draft candidate.“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” Freedom wrote on X on August 7. “Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.”Since Freedom’s initial announcement, he has made more public statements on X, including a post showing him signing the paperwork to register for the draft and another workout vid captioned, “Let ‘The Transition’ to the @WNBA begin.” Despite this dog whistle, Freedom initially claimed that his stunt was not meant to poke fun at trans people, saying that he is “definitely not here to mock, make fun of or disrespect any community or personal choices.”Shortly after Freedom’s declaration, former NBA player Royce White, who is also runn