Dem
47
GOP
53
Let us pause for a moment to reflect on how appropriate it is that two guys named White and Freedom are doing what they can to advance the MAGA agenda.
The White in question is Royce White, who was a good enough basketball player to make the NBA, but not good enough to stay around. He played a grand total of 3 minutes spread across three games, and is better known to readers of this site for his dismal 2024 U.S. Senate campaign against Sen. Amy Kloubchar (DFL-MN), where he lost by 16 points, 56% to 40%.
The Freedom in question is Enes Kanter Freedom, who is an enemy of the Turkish government, and who added "Freedom" to his birth name when he acquired American citizenship. He had a much more substantial NBA career, but those news sites who are referring to him as an "NBA star" have no idea what they are talking about. He spent his career as a backup center, and averaged 11 points per game while playing approximately zero defense.
At this point, let us do a brief history lesson. If you read the rules for participating in the Olympics, as they were written when the modern Olympic movement started in 1896, you know what you won't find? Any mention whatsoever of trans athletes. Or of performance-enhancing drugs, either. Or of what it takes to be "from" a particular nation. In fact, pretty much the only concern, eligibility-wise, was making sure an athlete was 100% amateur.
That brings us to White Freedom... er, White and Freedom. In response to the Sophie Cunningham kerfuffle, the socially very conservative Freedom got on ex-Twitter and announced that he was declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft. Here's his message:
After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I'm officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.
If simply declaring who you are is all that's required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.
My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA's eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion. Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.
I know my presence on the court will stir up strong opinions. I am definitely not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any community or personal choices. I'm simply asking that the current rules be applied equally to everyone—the rules that represent the very values many WNBA players and coaches have publicly advocated for. My team and I are prepared to ensure these guidelines are applied equally, consistently, and without exception, and I look forward to the #WNBA honoring its stated principles.
See you at training camp.
White jumped on board shortly after and said he was declaring for the WNBA draft, too.
There were paroxysms of delight on the right, since the duo has ostensibly backed the WNBA into a corner. Basically, the idea is that either the WNBA will have to let White and Freedom play, and thus "prove" that it's not possible to judge whether someone who claims to be a woman is telling the truth, or else the WNBA will deny White and Freedom, and thus "prove" that its pro-trans stance was just empty "woke" rhetoric. See this piece from Fox/Outkick, for example, which suggests that it's checkmate for the WNBA (and, by extension, all trans-inclusive people and entities).
We are stunned, frankly, that nobody on the right seems to be able to game this out. Like... are we missing something? Let us start with the proposition that White and Freedom will never, ever see a WNBA court. This is as certain as can be. The only question remaining is how the WNBA will accomplish that result. And the obvious answer is... the league will hammer out a specific policy when it comes to trans/intersex players, and where the line between "eligible" and "ineligible" is.
That brings us back to the point about the Olympics. The IOC didn't have a drug policy, or a nationality policy, or a gender-identity policy... until they needed one. Then, the organization developed the needed policies. In some cases, it took decades to fine-tune the policies. In other cases, the policies are a perpetual work in progress. The same can be said of entities like the NCAA, FIBA and FIFA.
It is probable the WNBA will figure this out very quickly. The league has pretty poor leadership, but that leadership still had to know this day would soon arrive, so they must have already done some thinking about it. Further, the WNBA has a big advantage over the IOC, NCAA, etc., namely that the WNBA can largely just copy the policies those organizations spent much time and energy working out.
The outcome here—and we can't see any other plausible one—will be to make clear that not just anyone can claim to be a woman and then play against women athletes. In other words, it will be very high-profile proof that the fear-mongering was unwarranted. That said, resolution might not come until after the election, so the anti-trans forces may be able to squeeze some juice out of this before they ultimately come up short. (Z)