The wheels are in motion in the WNBA … or they’re falling off.
One or the other.
Former first-round NBA draft pick Enes Kanter Freedom has made good on his promise to declare for next year’s WNBA Draft, officially penning a letter to the league on Monday.
THE WNBA HAS LIMITED OPTIONS AFTER TWO MEN DECLARED FOR THE DRAFT, AND THOSE OPTIONS AREN’T GREAT
Kanter shared the letter in a social media post, saying “rules are rules!” in the caption.
“Please accept this formal document as my official written notification to the Women’s National Basketball Association of my voluntary decision to enter the player pool for the 2027 WNBA Draft,” the letter said. “Consistent with the current league collective bargaining agreement, I am submitting this notice to exercise my draft rights and to affirm that I at least twenty-two years old and that I have no remaining intercollegiate eligibility, as required by Article XIII, Section 1(b).
“I request that the WNBA League Office verify receipt of this document and direct any future communications to my personal email address listed above. Thank you for your official processing of my registration into the 2027 draft pool.”
Sophie Cunningham and the WNBA clearly at odds
What a time to be alive. What a league. More importantly, what a pickle for that league.
Kanter and former first round NBA pick, Royce White, both declared their intentions to enter the WNBA Draft late last week as a clear rebuttal to the ongoing drama surrounding Sophie Cunningham and the league.
Cunningham told ESPN last month that she believed in protecting young girls in sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” she told the outlet. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with 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.”
CHERYL REEVE SENDS CLEAR MESSAGE TO SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM WITH ‘TRANS KIDS BELONG’ SHIRT DURING FEVER-LYNX GAME
Pretty simple statement, right? Wrong!
That reignited the “trans in women’s sports” debate — which then led to several protests from both sides before Fever games. Earlier this month, Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve made her stance known by wearing a “Trans kids belong” shirt during a game against Cunningham and the Fever.
The WNBA has since come out with a boilerplate statement praising the “different lived experiences, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions” in the wake of the trans-athlete debate reaching the league.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
“To everyone who loves this game: The WNBPA represents 200+ individual people with different lived experiences, cultures, lifestyles, and opinions. 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 league added.
“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. But we will not be used as political pawns.”
Speaking of politics, Cunningham was fouled so violently over the weekend by Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington that she was ejected from the game, only to then post “White privilege” on social media from the locker room.
The league will now have to, presumably, make a decision today about whether Carrington should be suspended after being assessed a Flagrant 2.
After that, they’ll have to dive into Kanter’s letter.
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Stay tuned.