The WNBA Players Association said Wednesday that meetings on a range of topics, including transgender athletes, will continue and that it “strongly denounce[s] the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” according to a statement quoted by OutKick.
OutKick reported that the WNBA convened a task force to discuss eligibility but has not produced a definition of “woman.” The article quoted the league’s collective bargaining agreement as saying “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” and said the 400-plus-page agreement does not define the term.
OutKick also reported that former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declared for the 2027 WNBA draft to highlight the issue, and said the league faces limited options if it needs to decide eligibility rules.
The article described recent on-court and online incidents it said have intensified the debate, including Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s public comments favoring women’s-only competition and a separate incident in which Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was ejected for what the article called a Flagrant 2 foul against Cunningham. OutKick reported that Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever” on social media and that Fever coach Stephanie White later called the hit “egregious,” after an initial silence.
OutKick said it reached out to the WNBA for an explanation of what defines a woman and had not received a response. The article also noted that organizations such as World Aquatics, World Athletics and the UCI have established biological eligibility standards, according to OutKick.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
