New York, NY (AP) – Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White are not eligible for the WNBA draft, a person familiar with the decision said Monday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. The person did not elaborate on the reasons for declaring the two men ineligible.
Freedom and White have declared their intention to enter next year’s draft, but the WNBA has not publicly addressed their eligibility.
The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women — people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA.
Although the league’s collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. When they announced their intention to enter the draft, Freedom and White said they identified as women.
The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Freedom played 11 seasons in the NBA. White played in three NBA games.
Freedom was ejected from Sunday night’s Indiana-Chicago game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.
Freedom was sitting along the baseline wearing a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Freedom’s direction.
Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Freedom, 34, as she approached him. A standing Freedom held his arms out and took one step on the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two.
Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby.
He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN!” Freedom wrote on social media Sunday night. “Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with the media.
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports, and since then the league has been embroiled in debates about transgender participation. Freedom joined a small rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before the game.
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