Male Players Are Testing The WNBA’s Eligibility Rules. Here’s How Other Women’s Sports Decide Who Can Play

Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White recently claimed they plan to enter the 2027 WNBA draft. Currently, the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that only women are eligible to play in the league, but it stops short of defining the term “women.”

"If simply declaring who you are is all that's required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA," Kanter Freedom, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Boston Celtics, wrote on social media. White, a former NBA first-round pick, told Fox News, “I'm transgender. I'm a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I'll be declaring for the WNBA Draft in 2027 as well.”

In another social media post, Kanter Freedom claimed he had talked to eight male players from the NBA, the G League and the European leagues who said they were interested in participating in the WNBA draft. “The NBA G- League pays players $45,000 a year, while the WNBA top players earn $1.4 Million. Those ‘men’ could earn an extra $1,355,000 a year by just identifying as women,” he wrote. Kanter Freedom was ejected from a WNBA game last Sunday after a confrontation with a player over this issue.

No openly transgender woman has ever participated in the WNBA. Nonetheless, Freedom and White may force the league to define their eligibility criteria. Other women’s sports have already grappled with who is eligible to play in their leagues, suggesting potential roadmaps for the WNBA.

Rather than converging on a single approach to eligibility, different women’s sports have adopted significantly different definitions of who is eligible to play. These differences show there is no general consensus about who should be eligible to play women’s sports.

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Women’s Tennis

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) initially addressed this issue by instituting rules involving testosterone levels. In 2018, transgender women were able to compete in the WTA as long as their testosterone levels were below 10 nmol/L for twelve months. In 2024, they made the rules more stringent, requiring transgender women to have less than 2.5 nmol/L for the previous 24 months.

In July 2026, the WTA again revised its rules, requiring all women to undergo an SRY gene test. Most people assigned male at birth have a Y chromosome containing the SRY gene. Transgender women would therefore typically have an SRY gene, making them ineligible to participate. (Exceptions are made for women with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) and certain other conditions who have an SRY gene but did not experience male puberty.)

Women’s professional tennis has not always banned transgender women. In the 1970s, Renée Richards, a transgender woman, was told she could not participate in the 1976 U.S. Open. However, after a court challenge, the WTA was forced to reverse its policy, and Richards participated in several U.S. Open women’s tournaments from 1977 to 1981. Although Richards, who is now 92, is a strong supporter of trans rights, she told CNN her lawsuit was “selfish,” and she now opposes allowing trans women and girls to participate in women’s sports.

Women’s Golf

In golf, the LPGA’s competition policy focuses on sex assigned at birth and whether the player experienced male puberty. All players assigned female at birth are eligible to play, but transgender women assigned male at birth must have transitioned before puberty and maintained low testosterone levels since transitioning to be eligible.

No openly transgender women have competed on the LPGA Tour. Bobbi Lancaster attempted to qualify in 2014 but never earned a tour card.

Women’s Soccer

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) no longer has a policy on transgender eligibility. In 2021, the NWSL instituted a rule allowing trans women athletes to compete if their testosterone levels were below 10nmol/L, but it abandoned the policy in 2022.

Currently, no players who identify as transgender women play in the NWSL. Nonetheless, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman told reporters that she’s watching the other leagues, explaining, “we’re continuing to monitor all of the real-time developments across adjacent or directly relevant institutions that are either making statements or making policy changes in that regard.”

Olympic Committee

The definition of who qualifies as a woman under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also evolved over time. In 2021, Laurel Hubbard, a transgender weightlifter from New Zealand, was allowed to compete as a female under the IOC rules, which permitted a transgender athlete to compete as a woman if testosterone levels are below a certain threshold for over a year.

World Athletics, which governs track and field events, had its own more stringent rules that year, which varied by event. These rules were so complex that in 2021, a pair of runners qualified as women when they ran shorter distances, but the same athletes could not compete as women in longer distance events.

In 2024, the IOC decided to let each sport devise its own rules regarding who could participate in women’s sports. However, as of 2026, the latest IOC rules require all women to take an SRY gene test. According to these rules, no transgender women will be able to participate in the upcoming Olympics in 2028.

WNBA Dilemma

These examples illustrate that there is no universally accepted decision about who qualifies to compete in women’s sports. The WNBA must decide whether to adopt more detailed eligibility guidelines, and if they do, they then must decide which ones to adopt.

This decision is complicated by the fact that the LGBTQ-friendly WNBA has spent decades cultivating an image of inclusion. Any rules that exclude certain players will likely alienate some fans and may violate many of the league’s and players’ values. Yesterday, after the altercation with Kanter Freedom, Chicago Sky player Natasha Cloud posted, “To every trans kid/person, You are apart of MY community & tribe. You belong. You’re loved. You’re seen. You’re perfect as you are. & you will always be protected by me.”

However, another WNBA star has spoken out specifically against transgender women in sports. Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham shared with ESPN that she wanted to “protect young girls who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” It was Cunningham’s views that initially ignited the debate about transgender women in the WNBA.

The WNBA has operated effectively without a detailed eligibility policy since its founding in 1997. For now, the league has said there are "no immediate eligibility matters affecting the league," but Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has acknowledged that the issue is under review and that discussions with teams and the players' union will continue.

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