Alright, so get this: former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom is planning to show up at Game 3 of the WNBA Finals, going down in Atlanta at State Farm Arena. The dude announced it on social media, making it clear this is all part of his protest against transgender athletes playing in the league. Wild, right? Especially since the WNBA doesn’t even have any transgender athletes rostered right now.
The Whole Draft Debacle and a Familiar Face-Off
This isn’t Kanter Freedom’s first rodeo stirring things up. His whole protest started online, then he and fellow former NBA player Royce White took it up a notch, literally declaring themselves eligible for the WNBA draft. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert shot that down real quick, stating they’re ineligible as men, which, come on, you gotta know that was coming. This was after Republican lawmakers were already calling on the league to clarify its eligibility rules.
We’ve seen him do this before, too. Remember that game between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever? Kanter Freedom was courtside, rocking a shirt that screamed, “Woman noun. an adult human female.” Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham had already voiced her opposition to trans athletes in the WNBA. Sky player Natasha Cloud didn’t hold back, getting into an argument with him right there. Kanter Freedom ended up getting ejected from the game and banned from the arena. The guy knows how to make an entrance, or rather, an exit.
Gabby Williams and the Valkyries’ Stand for Inclusivity
Here’s where it gets really interesting, and why Williams and the Golden State Valkyries are right in the middle of this. Kanter Freedom specifically name-dropped Gabby Williams and Atlanta Dream star Angel Reese in his Saturday post on X, explaining his Game 3 attendance. He said, “As you all know, this all started with an interview featuring Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries when she said, ‘I have no problem with trans athletes playing on my team or against my team.’”
Kanter Freedom even wrote that Williams’ words gave him “so much hope and motivation to come out as a woman and officially declare for the WNBA Draft. I can’t wait to watch my favorite player, the woman who inspired me to become who I am today!” That’s a quote, straight from his post.
Williams’ original quote from back in May, the one that started all this discourse, was pretty clear: “We see trans peoples’ rights being stripped away from them. There’s a lot of discourse around trans athletes and where they can compete. I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime. I don’t think it’s a problem in the world. It’s just another way to kind of attack trans people.”
The Valkyries, as a team, have been super vocal in supporting the LGBTQ+ community, which makes sense given the strong Bay Area representation. Head coach Natalie Nakase nailed it back in September when she said, “For me, sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self. I’m big on that because I have been criticized for my height, for my ethnicity. I’ve been in those ‘you shouldn’t belong here,’ (conversations), and for me I don’t want that space, especially Golden State, to ever feel like that.” You gotta respect that.
This whole thing with Kanter Freedom is just another layer. We already saw reports over the weekend that both Valkyries and Dream players left the court during the national anthem, an apparent protest. The Associated Press reported that many WNBA teams have been doing this for a while, returning before tipoff, going back to when the league suspended rules about it in 2017. So, conservative discourse was already infiltrating these WNBA Finals, and now this is hitting a fresh new level.
Game 3 is about to be wild, not just for the championship battle on the court, but with all this going on off it. It’s gonna be interesting to see how it all plays out in Atlanta.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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