{"id":872347,"date":"2026-08-26T17:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T17:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872347\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T17:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T17:20:09","slug":"im-disappointed-charles-barkley-calls-out-adam-silver-cathy-englebert-for-transgender-controversy-in-wnba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/872347\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m Disappointed\u201d: Charles Barkley Calls Out Adam Silver &#038; Cathy Englebert for Transgender Controversy in WNBA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The transgender athlete debate in the WNBA reached a new level of visibility after Enes Kanter Freedom protested and was ejected courtside in Chicago. Charles Barkley has now entered the conversation with a blunt assessment of how the league&#8217;s leadership handled it. <\/p>\n<p>Charles Barkley said he is \u201cdisappointed\u201d in NBA commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI got nothing but love and respect for gay people and transgender people, but under no circumstances do I think men should play against women. Zero,\u201d Barkley <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrickCenter_\/status\/2092399982322274812\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">said on Michael Smerconish\u2019s SiriusXM radio show via Brick Center<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed in Adam Silver and Cathy [Engelbert], the commissioner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Charles Barkley WENT OFF on the WNBA for not banning transgender women:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder NO circumstances do I think men should play against women. ZERO! I&#8217;m DISAPPOINTED!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Adam Silver should come out \u2014 and Cathy Engelbert&#8230; &#8216;There&#8217;s no transgender people going to play in the WNBA! If\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sGrnT559k6\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/sGrnT559k6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrickCenter_\/status\/2092399982322274812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He said he supports transgender people but does not believe biological males should compete in women\u2019s sports. In his view, the absence of a firm public stance from Silver and Engelbert allowed the topic to spiral onto the internet and into political arenas. \u201cThey should have come out two weeks ago, before all this, because people are looking for attention now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy had already been building. Comments from Sophie Cunningham about protecting girls\u2019 sports and subsequent declarations by former NBA players, including Kanter Freedom, kept the issue in the headlines. <\/p>\n<p>Kanter appeared at a Chicago Sky game. He wore a shirt defining \u201cwoman\u201d and was later ejected after a confrontation, pushing the debate further into the spotlight.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Barkley Says Silver and Engelbert Should Have Ended the Debate Weeks Ago<\/p>\n<p>Barkley\u2019s assessment was direct. He said the commissioners should have stated that \u201cthere\u2019s no transgender people going to play in the WNBA. If you don\u2019t like it, kick rocks. And we\u2019re not going to discuss it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that the league should have declared the matter closed. Rather than allowing it to be turned over to \u201cthe fools on the internet\u201d or Congress. \u201cThe WNBA is for women only, period. And we\u2019re not going to discuss it again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barkley criticized Kanter for seeking attention. He also agreed that the former player \u201chas a point.\u201d The main issue, in Barkley\u2019s view, is that leadership of the league never issued the clear boundary that would have prevented the issue from dominating the conversation. Silence created the opening.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Barkley has long been one of the most outspoken voices in basketball media. On this issue, he drew a firm line on fairness while affirming personal respect for transgender individuals. <\/p>\n<p>His disappointment is aimed at Adam Silver and Cathy Engelbert. For not delivering that same clarity publicly and shutting the topic down. <\/p>\n<p>The comments ensure the debate will remain loud for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The transgender athlete debate in the WNBA reached a new level of visibility after Enes Kanter Freedom protested&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-872347","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\/872347","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=872347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}