WNBA boss denounces ‘haters’ as transgender sports battle follows league to Dallas
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has spoken out against critics attempting to “sow divisiveness” amid ongoing discussions surrounding transgender athletes in women’s basketball. She addressed the issue on Thursday in Dallas, before the Indiana Fever’s 91-85 defeat to the Dallas Wings, at the home of the Dallas Mavericks.
Protesters gathered outside the American Airlines Center, continuing a trend seen at multiple venues following public remarks by Fever player Sophie Cunningham.
In a detailed profile with ESPN, Cunningham expressed her support for prohibiting transgender girls and women from participating in female sports categories.
The pregame session marked Engelbert’s first public statement on the matter since the league condemned bad-faith attempts to leverage the discussion to “demean or marginalize others.”
Last week, the WNBA released an official statement rebuking attempts to manufacture controversy around athlete eligibility guidelines.
Speaking next to Wings CEO and managing partner Greg Bibb, Engelbert remarked, “People are trying to use the league to sow divisiveness.”
She added, “We’re being the center of political football for people who have never watched the WNBA, never have written about the WNBA or reported on the WNBA,” echoing phrasing previously employed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver regarding the situation surrounding the league.
Under the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement, rules dictate that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” though the text lacks explicit definitions concerning gender identity or birth-assigned sex.
The debate heightened earlier this month when former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White announced their intentions to enter the WNBA draft, claiming they identify as women.
In a memo distributed to team presidents and general managers earlier this month, Engelbert said the league plans to hold further dialogue about transgender women’s participation in the sport.
Addressing the broader scrutiny, she said Thursday, “There’s always going to be haters out there and we denounce it. But that’s what happens when you have made it as a legitimate sports media and entertainment product.”
