The WNBA has been in hot water lately as the commissioner and other decision-makers try to figure out what a woman is and who is eligible for the league. The conversation started when Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham publicly opposed transgender women competing in women’s sports after being asked the question during an ESPN interview.
“I think that I am here to extend love,” she said. “But I also think 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.”
She later added: “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense.”
Her remarks have since become part of a much larger dispute involving rallies outside Fever games, criticism of teammate Caitlin Clark’s more neutral stance and publicity campaigns from former NBA players including Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White.
Both Freedom and White then took the opportunity to pull the WNBA card with multiple trolling tactics, including self-proclaiming they were women. Things eventually led to both parties declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft to provoke the commissioner in clarifying what a woman is and who is actually eligible for the league.
The tension with Freedom spilled into an August game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena, with Freedom trolling them by wearing a Women is an adult human female shirt. Los Angeles Sparks forward Cameron Brink sharply criticized Freedom, using explicit language and calling the former NBA center “a stupid piece of s—” for challenging the WNBA’s draft eligibility rules. Speaking with Mirror U.S. Sports, Brink framed the debate as an attack on the transgender community rather than a dispute over competitive fairness.
“For me personally, I think when it comes to the trans issues that I believe you’re talking about, I think it’s a non-issue, and I think it’s people trying to just come for the trans community and I just don’t stand for that,” Brink said.
She then addressed Freedom directly.
“I don’t even know what the fu*k his name is — Enes Kanter — he’s a stupid piece of s—,” Brink said. “And I think a lot of people think that, and he’s just trying to stay relevant.”
As for the 2027 draft, multiple ESPN sources have speculated and quietly confirmed that the WNBA will deny Freedom and White from entering the draft.
