{"id":7343,"date":"2026-08-24T22:39:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7343"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:39:34","slug":"enes-kanter-royce-white-not-eligible-for-wnba-after-draft-declarations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7343","title":{"rendered":"Enes Kanter, Royce White not eligible for WNBA after draft declarations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White will not be eligible to play in the WNBA after both declared themselves women and eligible for the draft, league sources told Front Office Sports.<\/p>\n

Read more Fox News shakes up \u2018The Five\u2019 with new full-time co-host<\/a><\/p>\n

The recent declarations of Freedom and White are \u201csimply publicity stunts\u201d and the league is \u201cnot going to give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalize others,\u201d one league source said.<\/p>\n

The WNBA \u201cwill not allow outside pressure or manufactured controversy to dictate league processes,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

The league will reportedly continue to discuss the topic, though it does not have any legitimate and immediate eligibility matters that require action.<\/p>\n

The decision came after Freedom was kicked out was kicked out of Wintrust Arena for a verbal altercation with Chicago star Natasha Cloud on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s new collective bargaining agreement in Article XIII Section 1 (a), states: \u201cOnly players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.\u201d <\/p>\n

The CBA, agreed upon in March, does not include any language around gender identity or gender assigned at birth.<\/p>\n

No known transgender woman has played in the WNBA.<\/p>\n

Freedom, who played 11 seasons in the NBA, has turned to political activism in recent years.<\/p>\n

He and White, a Republican political candidate for the U.S. Senate, declared the eligibility for the 2027 WNBA Draft earlier this month amid debates of transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n

It came after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender athletes from girls\u2019 and women\u2019s sports\u00a0in an ESPN article published in July, which sparked a larger conversation and pro and anti-trans rallies before games. <\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Canoodling Central Park lawyer getting forced out of firm after being caught in viral NYC smoochfest: sources<\/a><\/p>\n

Freedom, who sat courtside at the Sky-Fever game Sunday night, got into a verbal altercation with Cloud during a timeout called in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Freedom was wearing a black T-shirt that read, \u201cWOMAN noun. adult human female.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cloud, who\u2019s vocal of her support of trans athletes in women\u2019s sports, walked toward Freedom and shouted at him as he stood with his arms outstretched.<\/p>\n

As he walked toward the court, Freedom was stopped by security and escorted out of the arena.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Wintrust Arena told TMZ that \u201cdecisions regarding reprimanding or banning would be the purview of the WNBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league has not announced a ban on Freedom from attending future games as of Monday.<\/p>\n

A Chicago PD spokesperson said there have been no reports filed regarding the incident, per TMZ.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN!\u201d Freedom\u00a0wrote on social media\u00a0Sunday night. \u201cLet that sink in, AMERICA!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Cloud did not speak to the media after the Sky\u2019s 113-90 loss to the Fever. <\/p>\n

A Sky spokesperson told FOS that Cloud spoke to league and team security.<\/p>\n

The WNBA released a statement after discussing transgender athletes and \u201cthe continued hate and vitriol directed at players online\u201d in a meeting earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to engage all league stakeholders in the coming weeks and months,\u201d the league said. \u201cWe will approach these important conversations thoughtfully and in alignment with the values of our league. There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Jed York\u2019s $140 prostitution arrest comes after $8.5 billion record-breaking valuation of 49ers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White will not be eligible to play in the WNBA after both declared themselves women and eligible for the draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wnba"],"yoast_head":"\nEnes Kanter, Royce White not eligible for WNBA after draft declarations - 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=7343\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enes Kanter, Royce White not eligible for WNBA after draft declarations - 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