Amid the ongoing gender policy debate in the WNBA, Outkick founder Clay Travis took aim at the league, sarcastically crowning Enes Kanter as the bravest woman known following his courtside disruption at the Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky clash on Sunday.
Travis claimed league officials refuse to adopt standard gender guidelines because their existing rostered players might fail to meet the criteria.
Clay Travis Praises Enes Kanter Following Demonstration at Fever-Sky Game
Kanter has been making plenty of noise lately. The former NBA player has turned the WNBA’s gender debate into his own personal internet social media circus.
After making a headline-grabbing announcement that he plans on entering the 2027 WNBA Draft, Kanter decided to take his antics straight to the courtside at Sunday’s matchup between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky.
Wearing a shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” he wasn’t just there to watch basketball; he was clearly looking to stir the pot.
And he got the exact reaction he wanted. Late in the third quarter, Sky guard Natasha Cloud decided she had seen enough. Right after scoring a basket, Cloud marched over toward Kanter’s seat, shouting and pointing her finger directly in his face. Kanter stood up, spread his arms wide, and took a step toward the floor.
Before things could escalate any further, arena security jumped in, grabbed Kanter, and escorted him right out of Wintrust Arena.
The courtside drama immediately blew up online, and OutKick founder Travis jumped into the ring as Kanter’s supporter. Travis went after WNBA bosses and arena security, insisting Kanter did absolutely nothing to deserve getting thrown out.
From his perspective, Cloud was the one who started the argument, while Kanter was just standing by his seat holding his ground.
Writing in a fiery column, Travis argued that league executives are simply hiding behind corporate politics instead of stepping up and making a firm call like other major sports bodies have already done.
“And all it takes for the WNBA to end this absurd charade is for the league to adopt the same exact gender rules as the Women’s Tennis Association, the International Olympics Committee, and the NCAA. All of these leagues now ban men from competing in women’s sports. Yet the WNBA won’t do this,” Travis wrote.
“Why? My own suspicion? The league knows some of its “women” players won’t pass the gender tests of the WTA, the IOC and the NCAA. And if the WNBA won’t define a woman, then let’s all give credit to Enes Kanter Freedom, the bravest woman any of us have ever known,” he added.
There is no doubt that Kanter is capitalizing on this whole situation, using controversial stunts to keep his name trending and build up his social media presence. But at the same time, the WNBA front office is making it way too easy for him.
By dodging the issue and refusing to set down a clear, black-and-white policy on transgender athlete eligibility, league officials have left the door wide open for these spectacles to happen in the first place.
