WNBA Bars Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White From Draft

The WNBA has ruled former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White ineligible to enter its 2027 draft, citing the league's eligibility rules for women. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert communicated the decision to Republican lawmakers in a letter, stating that both men do not qualify to play in the women's professional basketball league.

According to OutKick, which obtained the letter through the America First Policy Institute, the organization representing Freedom, Engelbert addressed the players' eligibility after they attempted to declare themselves WNBA draft prospects. Their campaign seeks to challenge the league to clarify its rules regarding biological sex and participation.

In its report, OutKick quoted Engelbert's characterization of the players as both men.

The dispute intensified after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham discussed transgender participation in women's sports during an ESPN profile published July 21. Her comments prompted criticism as well as support from people who argued that women's sports should maintain eligibility restrictions based on biological sex.

During the ESPN interview, Cunningham explained her position on the controversy surrounding her remarks.

"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that.' I 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't have to go against biological men." Cunningham said.

Protesters supporting and opposing Cunningham's position gathered outside the Fever's game against the Seattle Storm on July 28. Two teenage girls seated courtside displayed a message backing the Indiana guard.

Their sign read, Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls.

Freedom and White subsequently made their challenge more visible through appearances at Fever games. Freedom was ejected from a game on Aug. 22 after wearing a shirt displaying a definition of the word woman, while White attended a game on Aug. 27 wearing a blonde wig.

The shirt displayed the words woman, noun, adult human female.

Freedom had announced his intention to pursue a place in the WNBA on Aug. 7. The two former NBA players argued that the league's existing framework allowed them to declare themselves draft prospects, making their applications a test of the organization's eligibility standards.

In a letter to lawmakers on Friday, Engelbert stated the league's position directly.

"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," Engelbert wrote.

Freedom disputed the commissioner's characterization in comments to OutKick, arguing that Engelbert had misgendered him and had not adequately explained the standards behind her eligibility determination.

"Cathy Engelbert cannot clearly define what a woman is, but she's absolutely certain that I'm a man," Freedom told OutKick. "I mean, how does that make sense? Who gets to decide? Who has the authority to determine whether someone is a woman?"

Freedom also questioned how the league could determine his eligibility while, in his view, leaving the underlying standards unclear.

"So 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?" Freedom added.

Freedom told OutKick that he intends to continue seeking entry into the league unless its rules change. The Washington Examiner contacted the WNBA for comment.