This article was written by Mark J. Burns and published on Sport & State, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation.
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The WNBA and embattled Commissioner Cathy Engelbert have decided that ex-NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White are ineligible to compete because they are “both men.”
That’s according to an official WNBA response to a congressional inquiry from five House Republicans, led by Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind. The lawmakers asked about the league’s failure to define women under the league’s collective bargaining agreement as well as other player safety and fan-related issues.
“With respect to your questions regarding eligibility, only women are eligible to play in the WNBA and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men,” said Engelbert in an Oct. 16 response, according to OutKick.
Enes Kanter Freedom (@EnesFreedom) Tells Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) About NBA Journey, WNBA Eligibility And Escaping Turkey: ‘Don’t Take America For Granted’
✍️: @ByGusWilson
https://t.co/M3CS4s4ZnD
— Sport & State (@SportNState) October 8, 2026
Both White and Freedom previously announced their plans to the enter the 2027 WNBA draft because they identified as women.
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In her statement, Engelbert — who is retiring at the end of the 2026 WNBA season — didn’t specifically answer the lawmakers’ question about how to define “women” while seemingly identifying the former NBA players’ gender.
“Cathy Engelbert cannot clearly define what a woman is, but she’s absolutely certain that I’m a man,” Freedom told OutKick. “I mean, how does that make sense? Who gets to decide? Who has the authority to determine whether someone is a woman?”
For the record, as part of its response, the WNBA didn’t debut a new transgender policy or outline updated eligibility requirements for prospective players.
“If they know what a man is, does the WNBA know what a woman is now?” wrote Sport & State founder Clay Travis on X, leaving question marks about how the league reached its conclusion with Freedom and White. “They still won’t say.”
So @wnba says Enes Kanter and Royce White are ineligible for the WNBA because they are “both men.” How dare they deny these brave, beautiful women? More seriously, if they know what a man is does the WNBA know what a woman is now? They still won’t say.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 20, 2026
Travis is right.
And neither could the NBA app even with its new ‘AskNBA’ artificial intelligence-powered feature.
Of course, I had to ask the “smart” chatbot about the WNBA, which still remains partially owned by the NBA.
As you can see below, AskNBA mentioned the basic tenets of the WNBA, but in my follow-up, the AI bot didn’t respond with a “yes” when asked if the women’s league featured players born biologically female.
Credit: AskNBA feature via NBA app
Maybe a new Commissioner can clearly spell that out once he or she takes over from Engelbert in 2027.
The WNBA didn’t respond to Sport & State to a request for comment.
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