The WNBA was already navigating one controversy over transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports when two former NBA players decided to test the league’s own rulebook.
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White each declared themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft, pointing to a gap in the league’s eligibility language that nobody had bothered to close.
Now, veteran analyst Stephen A. Smith is calling on the league and its players association to settle the issue, arguing that the rules should have been clear long before this controversy arrived.
Stephen A. Smith Calls on WNBA to Clarify Player Eligibility Rules
The opening that Kanter and White found sits right in the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement. It states simply that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA” without ever defining what that means or laying out any criteria tied to biological sex, hormone levels, or physical characteristics.
Kanter Freedom, the former New York Knicks center, posted a video on X declaring himself for the WNBA after his team reviewed the league’s guidelines around self-identification. Hours later, White, a former first-round pick, followed suit, saying he would declare for 2027.
As the controversy exposed a major gap in its eligibility rules, the WNBA is now scrambling to contain the fallout and figure out how those rules should apply.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to team presidents and general managers the same day. She called the topic “complex and nuanced” and added that a task force already scheduled to meet the following week would now also take up the eligibility question. The league would also hold additional “listening sessions” for team leaders on the matter.
The Women’s National Basketball Players Association had already released its own statement, saying it would “not be used as political pawns” while affirming its commitment to inclusion.
But the actions taken so far by the WNBA commissioner did not sit well with Smith.
Speaking on The Stephen A. Smith Show, the veteran sports commentator questioned why the league needed to form a task force after the issue had already become a public controversy.
“If your rules were more finite and clear, you wouldn’t have to have a meeting of team presidents and general managers,” Smith said. “You’re the commissioner. You should already know.”
Stephen A. Smith completely CRASHED OUT on the WNBA after seeing former NBA players, Enes Kanter & Royce White, announce that they’re planning to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft 😳😭👀
“If your rules were more finite and clear, you wouldn’t have to have a meeting with team presidents… pic.twitter.com/vXV60YTubM
— Slime🐍 (@ItsKingSlime) August 10, 2026
Smith also pointed to the language in the CBA and argued that the league should have been prepared for questions about who is eligible to play. He argued that the ambiguity practically invited exactly this kind of stunt that Kanter and White tried to pull off.
“We literally are living in a society where there has to be a debate involving a collective bargaining agreement that explicitly states that the league is for women,” Smith said.
“You got to take a stand at some point because folks are coming because it’s an opportunity to point out flagrant hypocrisies and they’re not going to pass it up.”
He argued that the WNBA and the players’ association also need to act quickly to ensure that any new rules protect their members. “Got to get on top of it and you got to do so in a way that protects y’all,” Smith said.
The outspoken analyst then ended his argument with a blunt message to the league and its players: “Do something or suck it up.”
It’s not the first time Smith has taken direct aim at Engelbert’s leadership. He called for her resignation outright last fall after Lynx forward Napheesa Collier publicly criticized the commissioner’s handling of the league.
Whether this latest pressure moves the needle any faster remains to be seen.
