{"id":6346,"date":"2026-08-07T20:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:41:13","slug":"ex-nba-star-enes-kanter-freedom-claims-hes-entering-2027-wnba-draft-in-wake-of-sophie-cunningham-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346","title":{"rendered":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he’s entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom announced he\u2019s intending to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft \u2014 just days after Sophie Cunningham\u2019s comments on transgender athletes sparked heated discourse around the league.<\/p>\n

Read more Eric Swalwell leveraged past relationship with Katie Miller to hide embarrassing files on honeypot Chinese spy: report<\/a><\/p>\n

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Freedom claimed that \u201cafter careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines\u201d of the WNBA, he\u2019s \u201cofficially declaring\u201d himself a prospect, in a video he shared to his X page Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf simply declaring who you are is all that\u2019s required,\u201d Freedom said, \u201cthen I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freedom was adamant his decision was not meant to disparage marginalized communities or troll opponents of Cunningham, who made waves earlier this month after she stated biological men should not be allowed to compete against biological women in sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions,\u201d Freedom said. \u201cI am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices. I\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.<\/p>\n

\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. See you at training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freedom\u2019s video logged over three million views in its first few hours on X, and it quickly drew support from Riley Gaines, the former college swimmer who\u2019s become one of the leading voices in the movement to ban trans participation in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

Read more Popular chain restaurant infuriates customers for going cashless: \u2018I\u2019ll never eat there again\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGenius,\u201d Gaines wrote in a comment on the clip. \u201cPerfect. Waiting to see which WNBA team recruits @EnesFreedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Cunningham told ESPN that \u201cgirls in sport\u201d should \u201cnot have to go against biological men,\u201d remarks like Freedom\u2019s that center around the topic have garnered headlines.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Just this week, former U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe publicly criticized Cunningham for her actions. On July 31, Katie Nolan also slammed Cunningham\u2018s words on her podcast.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, \u201cHarry Potter\u201d author J.K. Rowling and politicians like Senator Ted Cruz have backed the Indiana Fever guard for her stance.<\/p>\n

For the WNBA\u2019s part, it\u2019s not yet weighed in on the controversy, though the Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association did issue a statement on Friday that read in part \u201cwe embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to have hard conversations,\u201d the statement read. \u201cBut we will not be used as political pawns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Elon Musk to build the biggest building in the world \u2014\u00a0spanning a colossal 100M square feet<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom announced on Friday he’s intending to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft \u2014 just days after Sophie Cunningham’s comments on transgender athletes sparked discourse around the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wnba"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom announced on Friday he's intending to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft \u2014 just days after Sophie Cunningham's comments on transgender athletes sparked discourse around the league.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he’s entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"WNBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346\",\"name\":\"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=6346#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he’s entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Former Boston Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom announced on Friday he's intending to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft \u2014 just days after Sophie Cunningham's comments on transgender athletes sparked discourse around the league.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he’s entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama","datePublished":"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346"},"wordCount":494,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp","articleSection":["WNBA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346","name":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he's entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-07T20:41:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9946f2bc3a7d89f1a3616e47f83df7b6.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6346#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom claims he’s entering 2027 WNBA Draft in wake of Sophie Cunningham drama"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}