Caitlyn Jenner Tells WNBA to Adopt XX-Only Rule as Kanter Freedom and White Push Draft Bids

Since Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham told ESPN last month she wanted to "protect young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men," the WNBA's eligibility fight has only escalated. The newest twist: former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have both moved from talk to action, and Caitlyn Jenner has publicly backed them.

Freedom, an 11-year NBA veteran, signed papers in mid-August declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft while wearing a shirt reading "Invest in women. Pay women. Hire women," according to TMZ. He's calling his campaign "The Transition." White, who played three NBA games in his career, followed with his own announcement that he intends to pursue the same draft, saying he identifies as transgender for purposes of professional basketball, per the Express Tribune.

Jenner weighed in during an appearance on Fox News @ Night, telling host Trace Gallagher the whole saga exposes the league's "hypocrisy." "Cathy, XX, you're in. XY, you're out. It's that simple," Jenner said, referring to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. Jenner, who won Olympic gold in the decathlon in 1976 as Bruce Jenner and transitioned in 2015, has taken this position consistently since the Lia Thomas controversy at Penn in 2022.

"We have to protect women's sports," Jenner said. "Title IX was one of the greatest pieces of legislation for women's equality in sports."

What the WNBA Actually Says, and Doesn't

The WNBA's collective bargaining agreement, ratified earlier this year, states in Article XIII, Section 1(a) that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA." But as Fox News Digital and OutKick have both reported, the 409-page document never defines "woman." The terms "transgender" and "gender identity" appear nowhere in it, even though the CBA spells out detailed definitions for dozens of other terms.

Freedom and White's strategy hinges on that gap. Neither man has been drafted or is a realistic candidate to play in the league. Their declarations are protest theater designed to force the WNBA to either write a definition into the rulebook or explain why it won't.

The league convened what multiple outlets described as a task force meeting with team general managers and presidents last week. Afterward, the WNBA released a statement saying the meeting "covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online." The league added: "There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others."

That statement doesn't name Freedom, White, Jenner, or Cunningham. It also doesn't answer the underlying question: what happens if a transgender woman actually tries out. No transgender woman has ever played in the WNBA, a fact multiple outlets, including TMZ, have confirmed.

The League Is Split, Not Just Debating

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve and the WNBA Players Association have defended transgender inclusion and pushed back on what they see as players being used as political pawns, according to OK! Magazine. Three WNBA coaches have publicly sided with including transgender athletes since Cunningham's comments went viral, per Breitbart's reporting.

People defending inclusion aren't necessarily dodging the biology question. Their argument, as represented by the league and its defenders, is that there are currently zero transgender players in the WNBA, so this is a hypothetical fight being forced by outside actors, not an active roster crisis. Reeve and the players' union frame Freedom and White's draft bids as bad-faith stunts meant to bait the league into a culture-war fight it didn't start.

Skip Bayless, the Fox Sports commentator, took the opposite side, posting on X that Jenner's Olympic history should carry weight with the league: "Caitlyn Jenner, as Bruce Jenner, won gold in the Olympic decathlon. Caitlyn Jenner now says biological boys/men should NOT be allowed to compete against girls/women... Listening, WNBA?"

Engelbert herself hasn't offered a rule change. She's said only that the league will approach the topic "thoughtfully" and "respectfully," and has noted that eligibility rules are collectively bargained, meaning any definition of "woman" would require negotiation with the players' union, not a unilateral edict from the commissioner's office.

That CBA was ratified earlier this year with no definition of "woman" in it. Renegotiating that language before the 2027 draft, when Freedom and White say they intend to formally enter the pool, would require the union's agreement. So far, there's no indication that conversation has started, let alone concluded.