Video Pearl: The WNBA Doesn’t Get to Claim to Be Against Politicization When That Is All It Has Ever Done | Don't @ Me w/ Dan Dakich You don't get to do that WNBA...
Do you ever notice ... how the WNBA has a courage problem?
The WNBA doesn't need another statement. It needs a definition.
The league says outside forces are trying to hijack women's basketball.
But there is a remarkably simple way to stop them.
Clearly define who is eligible to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association.
THE WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION CAN'T DEFINE A 'WOMAN,' AND IT'S BEYOND SHAMEFUL
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks before the WNBA basketball draft in New York on April 13, 2026. (Pamela Smith/AP)
Funny how quickly a hypothetical becomes real when somebody finally has to write the rule.
Last week, I wrote that the WNBA had backed itself into a corner.
Turns out somebody at league headquarters finally noticed the walls.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has now told teams that the league is discussing transgender-player eligibility and expects those conversations to continue.
The league's collective bargaining agreement says:
"Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA."
That might have been an amusing legal omission when the question was theoretical.
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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)
Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White say they want to enter the WNBA Draft.
French transgender basketball player Julie Tétart, who is biologically male, is already playing professional women's basketball overseas.
Suddenly the question isn't something being shouted across cable-news panels.
The WNBA has a courage problem and it’s not Sophie Cunningham
Because you can't have a professional women's league whose rule says only women may play
And while league officials figure this out, we're getting a pretty good demonstration of why this
subject has become so difficult for the WNBA to address honestly.
Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington commits a flagrant 2 foul against Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. (Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images)
DiJonai Carrington came up behind Sophie Cunningham on a fast break and clobbered her in the
head, sending her crashing to the floor and bloodying her mouth.
Afterward, Fever coach Stephanie White defended Carrington's competitiveness and said she
didn't believe Carrington was trying to hurt Cunningham.
White has since said she hadn't seen the foul when she made those comments.
Video appears to show White looking directly toward the play as it happens.
The WNBA has a courage problem and it’s not Sophie Cunningham
This time White talked about unity, love, grace and integrity while blasting the outside forces she
says are trying to divide the Fever and "hijack" the WNBA.
Right before she said, "Everybody else can go to hell."
Too many people are trying to turn every WNBA game into something other than basketball.
For years the league has embraced political and cultural causes far beyond basketball.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White gives instructions to Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark against the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 18, 2026, in Indianapolis, Ind. (Getty Images)
But you don't get to invite politics and cultural activism onto the court when you agree with the
message and then complain that outsiders are hijacking basketball when the questions become
Which is why I've been impressed with Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham.
The WNBA has a courage problem and it’s not Sophie Cunningham
Cunningham doesn't need to attack her coach every time someone sticks a microphone in her
She believes boys shouldn't compete in girls' sports.
Sometimes it's standing your ground without burning down the locker room around you.
Clark doesn't need another national controversy attached to her name either.
Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever smiles before the game against the Washington Mystics on Sept. 20, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. (NBAE via Getty Images)
Maybe the adults running the league could help them out.
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And while we're at it, perhaps the people covering the WNBA could ask it.
What objective standard determines who is eligible to play in the Women's National Basketball
The WNBA has a courage problem and it’s not Sophie Cunningham
This is what sports journalists are supposed to do.
The tragedy is that the WNBA is sitting on an extraordinary opportunity.
Caitlin Clark brought millions of new eyeballs to women's basketball.
The league finally had what every professional sports organization spends decades trying to build: Momentum.
And somehow the conversation keeps becoming about everything except the basketball.
They didn't buy a ticket to attend a sociology seminar.
And that's why Engelbert's eligibility discussions matter.
The league has an opportunity to remove at least one enormous source of ambiguity.
Transgender people should be treated with dignity and respect.
The WNBA has a courage problem and it’s not Sophie Cunningham
And yes, there are people who vehemently disagree with that.
Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever arrives at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind., before a game against the Minnesota Lynx on Sept. 22, 2026. (NBAE via Getty Images)
But first, the league has to have the courage to define its own rules.
The WNBA keeps saying outside forces are trying to hijack women's basketball.
And then do something increasingly novel for the Women's National Basketball Association.
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