{"id":511480,"date":"2026-08-25T09:28:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T07:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=511480"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:28:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T07:28:07","slug":"enes-kanter-freedom-and-royce-white-ruled-ineligible-for-2027-wnba-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/enes-kanter-freedom-and-royce-white-ruled-ineligible-for-2027-wnba-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White ruled ineligible for 2027 WNBA Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"3070\" data-end=\"3222\">Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White will not be eligible to participate in the 2027 WNBA Draft, according to sources around the league cited by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/former-nba-players-not-eligible-wnba-sources-say-2026-08-24\/\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3224\" data-end=\"3462\">Both former NBA players had announced their intention to enter the WNBA Draft, stating that they are transgender women. Kanter Freedom played in the NBA for more than a decade beginning in 2011, while White spent one season in the league.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1khtuo8\" data-start=\"3464\" data-end=\"3522\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"3467\" data-end=\"3522\">Kanter Freedom and White become part of WNBA debate<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3524\" data-end=\"3784\">According to sources cited by Reuters, the move was viewed within the league as an attempt to create division and attract attention at a time when transgender participation in women&#8217;s sports has become a major political and sporting issue in the United States.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3786\" data-end=\"3959\">The WNBA currently does not have a specific, publicly available policy regarding transgender participation. The league remains in discussions with stakeholders on the issue.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"sdv8vz\" data-start=\"3961\" data-end=\"3997\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"3964\" data-end=\"3997\">Sophie Cunningham controversy<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3999\" data-end=\"4108\">The debate intensified following comments made by Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in an ESPN interview.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4110\" data-end=\"4249\">Cunningham said she wanted to protect young girls in locker rooms and in sports, including from having to compete against biological males.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4251\" data-end=\"4466\">Her comments sparked a strong reaction among WNBA fans, with some criticizing her position while others rallied behind the Fever guard. Demonstrations supporting Cunningham have also taken place outside Fever games.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"2t3bm7\" data-start=\"4468\" data-end=\"4508\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"4471\" data-end=\"4508\">WNBPA responds to the controversy<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4510\" data-end=\"4641\">The WNBA Players Association recently addressed the broader debate, saying that its players would not be used as &#8220;political pawns.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4643\" data-end=\"4812\">The union also condemned hate, abuse and the demonization of any person or group, including transgender people, warning that such rhetoric fuels fear, division and harm.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1ut54lr\" data-start=\"4814\" data-end=\"4865\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"4817\" data-end=\"4865\">Kanter Freedom ejected during Sky-Fever game<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"4867\" data-end=\"4988\">The latest development comes days after <a href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/enes-kanter-freedom-ejected-from-wnba-game-after-confrontation-with-natasha-cloud\/\">Kanter Freedom was ejected from a game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever.<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4990\" data-end=\"5216\">Kanter Freedom said on social media that he was removed after a verbal altercation with Natasha Cloud. In an emailed response to Reuters, he said he had been supporting Cunningham when Cloud began &#8220;yapping and cursing&#8221; at him.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5218\" data-end=\"5292\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Reuters said it was not immediately able to reach Royce White for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two former NBA players had announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft. Sources cited by Reuters say they will not be eligible to participate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":511479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399,403],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-511480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-wnba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White ruled ineligible for 2027 WNBA Draft - Sportando<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/enes-kanter-freedom-and-royce-white-ruled-ineligible-for-2027-wnba-draft\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White ruled ineligible for 2027 WNBA Draft - Sportando\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The two former NBA players had announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft. 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