Caitlyn Jenner is now part of a WNBA dispute after Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White demanded eligibility for the 2027 WNBA draft. The move came last week as they pushed a culture-war fight over transgender athletes, even though no transgender players are slated to join the league’s roster.
White, who recently lost the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, said he should be allowed to play in the women’s league. He told News, “I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purposes of … professional basketball,” and posted pictures of himself wearing a wig while saying he was embracing his “feminine era.”
Royce White and the 2027 WNBA draft
Freedom and White said they would take legal action if blocked from the draft. That shifts the dispute from a political provocation to a rules fight: if they press ahead, the argument would likely hinge on how the WNBA defines draft eligibility and whether any challenge tries to force the league to treat sex-based categories differently.
For readers trying to follow the practical stakes, the key point is narrow. The demand is not about an immediate roster spot. It is about using the 2027 WNBA draft to test the league’s boundaries and to force a response from a sport already under pressure from activists and politicians.
Sophie Cunningham and Title IX
The backdrop came last month, when Sophie Cunningham said in an profile that “biological men” should not compete in women’s sports. She called that position “common sense” to protect young girls and Title IX. Activist groups rallied outside WNBA games after those remarks, and tensions inside arenas increased.
Riley Gaines became one of the MAGA figures using the remarks as grist, while President Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order in February 2025. Karoline Leavitt then echoed the same line last month, saying, “It’s completely ludicrous that anyone could support that,” and adding, “We want to protect women and girls, and the backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing.”
The WNBA response
The WNBA last week criticized those trying to create a false narrative about transgender women playing in the league. That leaves the draft demand in an awkward place: the league is being pulled into a debate over a roster issue it says does not match the current reality, while critics keep using the argument to widen the fight.
For now, the unresolved issue is not whether the controversy exists; it clearly does. It is whether the WNBA changes any eligibility rules or faces a formal challenge over the 2027 draft demand, and whether White and Freedom turn their threat of legal action into an actual filing.
