{"id":860490,"date":"2026-08-16T19:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860490\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T19:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T19:48:12","slug":"two-former-nba-players-troll-wnba-with-anti-trans-stunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/860490\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Former NBA Players Troll WNBA With Anti-Trans Stunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Two former NBA players have claimed to be transgender and announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft in an apparent effort to troll both the league and the transgender community.<\/p>\n

Royce White, who recently lost the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, has claimed to be transgender and argued that he should be allowed to play in the WNBA, according to Fox News<\/a>. White was also the Republican nominee who challenged Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024.<\/p>\n

Presenting himself as a legitimate WNBA prospect, White claimed he is \u201csometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball\u201d and announced his intention to enter the 2027 draft next April.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019d be unstoppable,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m a team-first guy. I\u2019m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I\u2019ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I\u2019ll do whatever the girls need me to do\u2026I think it\u2019s only fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

White also said the WNBA could end his challenge by issuing a definitive statement that people assigned male at birth are prohibited from playing in the league and in women\u2019s sports generally.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he would still proceed if the league did not issue such a statement, White replied: \u201cOh, no, I\u2019m declaring. And I don\u2019t want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

White also suggested he would sue if he goes undrafted and no team signs him.<\/p>\n

White\u2019s announcement followed a similar one from former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom. On August 10, Freedom posted<\/a> a video on X showing him signing a document asking the WNBA to accept his \u201cdecision to enter the player pool for the 2027 WNBA Draft,\u201d according to the New York Post.<\/p>\n

In the video, Freedom wore a shirt reading: \u201cInvest in women. Pay women. Hire women.\u201d The slogan was popularized by women\u2019s sports advocate Kelsey Trainor as part of her campaign for better compensation for female athletes and greater investment in women\u2019s sports leagues.<\/p>\n

In an August 7 social media post, Freedom said he had reviewed the WNBA\u2019s eligibility guidelines and its approach to self-identification and inclusion and determined that he met those criteria. He claimed he was \u201cnot here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone \u2014 the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMy team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the #WNBA honoring its stated principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article XIII of the WNBA\u2019s 2026 collective bargaining agreement states that \u201conly players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.\u201d However, the agreement neither defines the term \u201cwoman\u201d nor establishes an eligibility policy for transgender or intersex players. It also does not state that self-identification as a \u201cwoman\u201d is sufficient to establish eligibility.<\/p>\n

Just before Freedom and White made their announcements, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent teams a memo about ongoing discussions concerning transgender athletes in women\u2019s basketball. Engelbert said a task force of team presidents and general managers would discuss the issue at a meeting, which took place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Engelbert\u2019s memo came in response to comments by Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham that were published by ESPN<\/a> last month. Cunningham called for barring transgender women and girls from female-designated sports teams. Her comments prompted small rallies and protests in cities where the Fever played road games, according to The Associated Press<\/a>. Other WNBA players and coaches, including Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, have opposed explicit bans on transgender athletes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Engelbert also said the league plans to hold additional discussions and listening sessions about eligibility. She noted that the WNBA\u2019s eligibility rules are determined through collective bargaining between the league and the WNBA Players Association.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether adding a ban on transgender athletes would require the league and union to reopen their existing collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two former NBA players have claimed to be transgender and announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-860490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}