Enes Kanter Freedom Defends His Right to Play Despite WNBA Declaring Him Ineligible: “I Am a Woman”

Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom has reiterated his intention to play in the WNBA after he sent his declaration for next year's draft.

Enes Kanter Freedom Defends His Right to Play Despite WNBA Declaring Him Ineligible: “I Am a Woman”

Former Celtics center Enes Kanter Freedom (Image via Bleacher Report/X)

After Enes Kanter Freedom stepped up his fight against the WNBA’s supposedly open-ended eligibility criteria by appearing at the Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game, the entire discourse went into overdrive.

The build-up to this may have been slow, as fans started to rally around Sophie Cunningham‘s claim that she wanted to save women’s sports from biological men.

But the argument gained fuel after Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore T-shirts supporting trans children, and Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams reiterated that she had no problem playing with or against trans athletes.

That led Kanter Freedom and another former NBA player, Royce White, to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft. The league did not respond to their letters since, but has now issued a formal statement.

In their statement to Front Office Sports, the league made it clear that neither of those former NBA players is eligible to play in the WNBA, and labeled their recent efforts as ‘publicity stunts.’ To this, Kanter Freedom said this while on FOX News:

I am identifying as a woman, and I should be allowed to play.

Enes Kanter Freedom said

He highlighted that, in the WNBA’s latest CBA, Article 13, Section 1, it is clear that anyone who identifies as a woman is allowed to play in the league. Therefore, he is just following the rules they laid out.

If the WNBA changed the rules, clearly defining who a woman is, and if it negated those who simply identify as one, then he would again follow the rules and withdraw his declaration.

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Enes Kanter Freedom will defy any ban to attend WNBA games

After making it clear that the league is wrong to label him as ineligible to play in the WNBA, FOX News host Laura Ingraham asked Enes Kanter Freedom whether he had heard of any potential ban from attending games after he was thrown out of the Sky-Fever game.

Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud (No. 9) jawing
Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud (No. 9) jawing (Image via ESPN)

It’s all fake news. I did not break any kind of rules. I did not step over the baseline; I simply opened my arms, so they should not be banning me from any games.

Enes Kanter Freedom said

The former Boston Celtics center added that he is excited for the upcoming playoffs, as he wants to continue watching the Indiana Fever play. He had stated in the past that joining the Fever would allow him and superstar point guard Caitlin Clark to become the WNBA’s version of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.

It seems the 34-year-old is set to defy any ban and would continue to appear at games to make his point. The league has not officially stated that it will ban the Turkish-American, but could do so if it can prove he is disrupting events.

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Former NBA All-Star asks Enes Kanter Freedom to stop ‘harassing women’

While it is clear that Enes Kanter Freedom is not going to stop until the WNBA changes its eligibility rules, Kenyon Martin Sr., someone who played against the former, wants him to stop taking it too far.

Initially, people was rocking with the point that you were trying to make, and forcing the WNBA into making certain decisions… I think you made your point then. Harassing them at the game- you know it is a sensitive topic for them; it was a little much, my brother… It was uncalled for.

Kenyon Martin Sr.

The former All-Star reiterated that Kanter Freedom was doing fine as long as he was bringing attention to what is a serious matter. But going to games to draw players into confrontations was a bit overboard.

Martin Sr. pointed out that the former Oklahoma City Thunder center was basically mocking the women in the WNBA and the trans community with these actions. If he wanted to make his point, he should do it with the league, and not harass those who do not have anything to do with those rules.

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