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Former NBA Players Crash WNBA Draft After Sophie Cunningham Blowup

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Enes Kanter Freedom
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The WNBA’s transgender-athlete debate just got hit with a pair of former NBA players saying they want in.

Freedom and Royce White have both declared for the 2027 WNBA draft, turning the league’s inclusion fight into a direct challenge over who gets to claim eligibility for women’s basketball.

Their announcements followed the uproar around Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham, who drew criticism after saying girls should not have to share locker rooms or compete against biological men.

Freedom, an 11-season NBA veteran who was waived by the Houston Rockets in February 2022, framed his draft declaration as a test of whether the WNBA will apply its own standards the same way to everyone.

“After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect,” Freedom wrote on X.

“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.”

He said the draft he is targeting is in April 2027.

“My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion,” Freedom added. “Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.”

Freedom made clear he expected his bid to anger people, but said his point was equal enforcement, not ridicule.

“I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices,” Freedom continued.

“I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone — the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for.”

Freedom said he and his team want the league’s standards applied “equally, consistently, and without exception.”

White pushed the same fight even harder.

The former NBA player, who is running for the Republican Senate nomination in Minnesota, told Fox News that he now identifies as transgender for professional basketball purposes and intends to enter the same draft.

“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White said.

White did not pretend he would be an ordinary prospect. “I think I’d be unstoppable,” he said.

He described himself as a team-first player who led Iowa State University in all five major statistical categories and could contribute wherever needed.

“But I’m a team-first guy. I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things,” White said. “I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything.”

He added that he would adjust to whatever role he was given.

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“I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do.”

White also cast his declaration as a discrimination issue.

“I don’t want to be discriminated against,” he said. “I want fair treatment. I’m a young black, hopefully United States Senator, that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete.”

He said he would wear a wig while playing and warned that WNBA players would have “nightmares… and they should” about potentially facing him.

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association entered the fight with a message that defended inclusion, condemned abuse and said the union still protects women’s sports.

“We embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion. Those are the values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change,” the group wrote on Instagram.

The WNBPA also rejected efforts to turn transgender people into targets.

“Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations,” the statement read. “But we will not be used as political pawns.”

The union told fans to notify security at games if they see hateful, violent or abusive behavior. It also urged people to report abusive posts online, drown out “bots and bad actors” and tell elected officials to strengthen Title IX.

Inside the league, Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams has openly said she would welcome a transgender player.

“I think trans rights, right now, is our new battle,” Williams said in a recent interview.

She said she sees “people’s trans rights being stripped away from them” and pointed to the debate over which competitions transgender athletes should be allowed to enter.

“I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime,” Williams added. “I don’t think it’s a problem in the world.”

Cunningham’s warning found a high-profile defender Friday night in HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher.

Maher argued that the Indiana Fever star had not attacked transgender people when she said girls deserved protection in locker rooms and sports.

“She didn’t say she hated trans,” Maher said before reading Cunningham’s exact remarks.

“I am here to extend love, but I also think that love is truth and 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,” Cunningham said.

For Maher, the outrage around Cunningham showed how far the debate had moved from where much of the public stands.

“Again, this is where 80% of the country is,” he said.

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