WNBA Could End Eligibility Controversy by Following IOC & FIBA Rules, Says Veteran Journalist

The WNBA is embroiled in a controversy regarding its eligibility rules that explicitly does not stop men identifying as women to join the league.

WNBA Could End Eligibility Controversy by Following IOC & FIBA Rules, Says Veteran Journalist

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert (Image via W Core/X)

The WNBA is currently embroiled in a controversy regarding its eligibility rules, and many conservative activists have joined the battle to ensure that those not born women cannot find ways to play alongside them.

It all started when Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve and a few others displayed their support for trans women after Sophie Cunningham revealed she wanted to keep them out of women’s sports.

They claimed they had no problem with trans women joining the WNBA. Then, a trans athlete playing in the French league expressed her desire to play in the WNBA, which lit a fire under this discourse.

Then, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom declared his interest in throwing his name into the player pool for the 2027 WNBA Draft. Soon, another former NBA player, Royce White, joined in to throw his hat in the ring.

Now, the league was pinned back and forced to issue a statement saying they would review the eligibility criteria with their stakeholders. Knowing how this can boil over into an embarrassment, veteran journalist Christine Brennan has an easy solution.

Something to consider in the WNBA transgender controversy: the IOC, USOPC, FIBA, and USA Basketball all now have policies not allowing transgender women to play. Twelve great WNBA players will go to the World Cup next month and play under those rules.

Christine Brennan wrote on X

The USA Today journalist mentioned that the massive focus on the league brought by Caitlin Clark‘s arrival has led to such vitriol. However, the league can stop this by copying the eligibility rules currently used by other organizations.

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WNBA has not been able to come to a conclusion

After the two former NBA players expressed their desire to play in the WNBA, the latter have been forced into action. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert initiated a task force to work with team executives to reach a solution. However, after three days of deliberation, they have not come to a conclusion.

Cathy Engelbert's task force is yet to come up with a solution
Cathy Engelbert’s task force is yet to come up with a solution (Image via Awful Announcing/X)

Today’s meeting covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online… There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.

WNBA’s statement read

This means the league is still figuring out how to stop the likes of former NBA players and activists from politicizing the entire eligibility discourse, while also ensuring their inclusion remains.

They could be looking to take time until after this season to decide on its rules. But taking too long might have the opposite effect. Either they can take a strong stand, as some have advised. Or they can adopt rules from other tournaments, as Christine Brennan mentioned, and be done with it.

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WNBA hopeful ex-NBA player embarrassingly loses Republican primary to former NFL & NBA sideline reporter

While Royce White was busy trying to put on a wig and state his intentions to join the WNBA, he was also in the midst of his campaign to win the Republican primary for the upcoming US Senate elections.

The last time he did so was during the 2024 US Senate election, and he won the Republican primary with 38.50% of the vote. His closest competitor drew in nearly 10% fewer votes.

However, White went on to lose the Minnesota Senate election to incumbent U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar after garnering just over 40% of the state’s vote.

After Democratic Senator Tina Smith announced that she would not run for another term, White was determined to fight for her soon-to-be vacant seat. However, he lost before he could even contest the upcoming polls.

Royce White ended up with just 11% of the votes. That was not even good enough for second place in the Republican Primary. However, what was embarrassing was how badly he lost when compared to former NBA and NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya, who won the primary with 52% of the votes.

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