Jackson Thompson Exposes the WNBA’s Biggest Problem
OutKick Reporter Jackson Thompson joins Riley Gaines to break down what he’s seeing inside the WNBA’s biggest cultural moment. Riley and Jackson discuss Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, the Indiana Fever, WNBA fan energy, league growth, media gatekeeping, and whether the league is prepared for its expanding audience. They also discuss the ongoing debate over men in women’s sports, questions around WNBA eligibility policies, Enes Kanter Freedom, Royce White, San Jose State volleyball, and how sports media has covered female athletes speaking out. Plus, Jackson shares what he’s watching next as the WNBA postseason approaches and Team USA women’s basketball prepares for international competition.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom pushed back against Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve after she claimed the debate over transgender athletes is part of a broader effort by critics who “don’t want transgender people to exist.”
Freedom responded to Reeve in a social media post Saturday, rejecting her characterization of those advocating to keep biological males out of women’s sports.
“Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve should step down immediately. You can’t lead women’s basketball while refusing to stand up for women’s sports. Can someone, for the love of God, please explain to her that: Protecting women’s sports is not an attack on anyone’s existence, nor does it erase a community. Coach, if you truly mean what you just said, then put your hypocrisy aside and prove it by drafting me in the 2027 WNBA Draft,” Freedom wrote.
LYNX COACH CHERYL REEVE VOICES SUPPORT FOR THE TRANS COMMUNITY AGAIN AFTER REGULAR SEASON FINALE VS FEVER
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ shirt as the Lynx faced Sophie Cunningham’s Fever, adding new fuel to the WNBA’s trans-athlete debate. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Reeve made the remarks after the Lynx closed the regular season with an 86-66 victory over the Indiana Fever at Target Center Thursday. The game was accompanied by competing demonstrations outside the arena over transgender participation in women’s sports.
“I think that’s probably one of the more meaningful things that would mark the season for me,” Reeve said. “It’s that the transgender community is one that deserves our support, and what is happening in the name of some issues of transgender in sports — it’s really an attack on all transgender community. They don’t want transgender people to exist.”
Reeve said the reaction she received after wearing a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt during a nationally televised Aug. 2 game against Indiana made the gesture one of the most meaningful moments of her season.
“The amount of communication of people who were affected by something as simple as wearing a T-shirt in support of them and helping them be seen — with the platform that we have in professional sports, it was a small gesture by me,” Reeve said. “It’s something I believe in, obviously, wholeheartedly.”
Turkish-American former basketball player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is seen prior to a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 23, 2026. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
“If I could have helped just one to feel differently about themselves, because for the transgender community this really is about life and death for them,” she continued. “The number of parents of transgender kids that I heard from and how it helped them and their families, it helped their child think differently about themselves and that there is someone in our position, like we have as a leader. To know that there are people out there that believe in them, that they belong.”
The comments marked at least the fourth time Reeve addressed the transgender issue during a WNBA media availability this season.
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Reeve initially spoke about it following Supreme Court rulings that upheld state laws protecting women’s and girls’ sports. She later defended transgender participation before the Lynx’s first home game against the Fever, saying that “every kid has a right to sports” while acknowledging that eligibility becomes more complicated after puberty.
The four-time WNBA champion coach also spoke privately with Fever guard Sophie Cunningham before their Aug. 2 matchup. Cunningham previously said she wanted to protect girls who should not have to compete against or share locker rooms with biological males, while emphasizing that she did not harbor hatred toward transgender people.
“I think that I am here to extend love,” Cunningham said. “But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Freedom inserted himself into the WNBA’s transgender debate in August by announcing that he intended to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft under the name “Enisa Freedom.” He said the move was designed to test the league’s eligibility standards, which state that only women may play in the WNBA but do not publicly define eligibility through biological sex.
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The former NBA center has repeatedly maintained that he is raising the issue seriously and is not attempting to demean transgender people.
“I’m not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any group or anyone’s personal decisions,” Freedom wrote in an earlier statement. “What I’m trying to do is bigger than clicks or attention.”
Freedom also publicly separated his campaign from the conduct of other former male basketball players who joined the WNBA draft effort, saying his goal had “never been publicity, political theater, cheap attention, or stunts.”
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Former NBA player Royce White also responded to Reeve’s latest remarks, but took a distinctly different approach from Freedom. While Freedom offered a direct rebuttal to Reeve’s characterization of women’s-sports advocates, White issued an overtly satirical statement promoting his female alter ego, “Roysha.”
“I appreciate Coach Reeve’s sentiment toward Transgenders,” White wrote. “In these increasingly polarized times, it appears a potential source of cultural common ground has emerged … Kweeen Roysha! Pay is the perfect blend of MAGA and mainstream. I think there’s a real opportunity to create a bridge, because a lot of conservatives nationwide would like to see Roysha play in the WNBA. The Minnesota Lynx would be a perfect home as the new transgender capital of America.”
The WNBA previously said there were no immediate transgender eligibility matters affecting the league and condemned what it called “bad-faith efforts” to demean or marginalize others. The league has never had a transgender woman play on a roster. Its collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA” but does not publicly provide a more detailed definition based on biological sex.
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Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during the season that the league would continue discussions with team leaders and the players’ union while treating competitive integrity, fairness and inclusion as priorities.
