Will this controversy ever end? It will soon be a month since Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declared their eligibility for the 2027 WNBA draft. Weirdly, the W has said nothing definitive yet. Meanwhile, legend Charles Barkley dubbed the entire thing a publicity stunt by the two former NBA players. It’s reached a stage where even LeBron James and Stephen Curry are being roped in…

Former ESPN host Sage Steele, who recently called the Toronto Tempo’s new non-binary team mascot “laughable,” is back weighing in on the WNBA-trans controversy, and she definitely did not hold back.

“What is LeBron going to say? What is Stephen Curry going to say? What are any of the stars going to say?” Steele said on Actual Friends. “Stars who have daughters who play sports, what are they going to say? Well, it’s about inclusivity. These men better act like men and do the right thing. We shall see.”

Steele’s comments have forcefully pushed James and Curry into the spotlight. Both have ties to women’s sports and the W. James has often defended Caitlin Clark from the critics. Two years ago, when many weren’t comfortable with the ‘Clark Effect’ kicking in, LeBron went on record to say he was “rooting for Caitlin because I’ve been in that seat before, I’ve walked that road before. I hope she kills.”

On the other hand, Curry’s own god-sister, Cameron Brink, plays in the WNBA. Just recently, the Golden State Warriors sharpshooter was spotted at a Valkyries game. Curry has also spent ample time mentoring Azzi Fudd on and off the court. And, as Steele said, Curry and LeBron both have daughters pursuing sports too.

Coincidentally, both are pursuing volleyball, not basketball. Zhuri James, 11, is an avid competitive player and even delivered the honorary first serve at the League One Volleyball (LOVB) Championship. Meanwhile, Riley Curry, 14, plays for the Academy Volleyball Club, which also won the NorCal Winter Classic.

Although both James and Curry remain strong supporters of women’s sports, neither has addressed the WNBA-trans controversy yet. The debate had initially intensified after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham addressed transgender participation in women’s sports in an ESPN profile published July 21.

“I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” Cunningham said, later doubling down, calling her stance nothing but “common sense.”

But that drew political attention and protests on both sides before things took another turn on August 7, when Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White publicly declared for the 2027 WNBA Draft. They said they were testing whether the W’s rules on women’s eligibility are applied consistently with self-identification.

“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement,” Kanter Freedom unexpectedly wrote. “I am definitely not here to mock… I’m simply asking that the current rules be applied equally.”

Weeks later, this controversy took an entirely different turn when Kanter Freedom showed up for a WNBA game. It led to a stoppage in play and the former Celtics star being kicked out…

Is Enes Kanter Freedom banned from the WNBA after the Natasha Cloud incident?

On August 23, Enes Kanter Freedom was swiftly ejected from a Chicago Sky game after an unusual interaction with guard Natasha Cloud. Kanter Freedom was wearing a shirt that read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”

“I just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!” Kanter Freedom wrote after getting tossed from the building.

Kanter Freedom also alleged that Cloud openly told him, “She’s not going to sleep with you,” after the former NBA star raised his hands to celebrate a shot by Sophie Cunningham. Now, public footage doesn’t capture Kanter Freedom saying too much to Cloud, and a supporter sitting beside him even backed him up.

“Natasha Cloud scored. She came over and threw her hands up and was talking s*** to his face,” said Tricia Smith, a Boise, Idaho, native. “So he stood up and said, like, ‘What? What do you want?’ He didn’t do a thing. I’ve sat next to him the whole game. He’s a great guy.”

Cloud didn’t speak to the media that night. But two days later, Sky’s principal owner Michael Alter declared that Kanter Freedom was banned from games at Wintrust Arena “unless sometime in the future he’s able to prove to us to our satisfaction that he is able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat.”

“It was pretty clear to us that his purpose of coming here was trying to be provocative and just see how much attention he could get and stir up and create,” Alter told reporters.

Cloud broke her silence soon after, saying she won’t be addressing questions about “an irrelevant person” and is ready to talk about “real issues” instead. The WNBA will not implement a league-wide ban on Kanter Freedom yet, according to The Athletic, but Cloud implored the league to reconsider its decision.

“We’re asking for protection, and that’s what protection looks like from a man,” Cloud said. “We can’t not allow him in the arena before the game, but after the game we can bring solutions to the table that best benefit putting our players first and protecting our players. Jeff, Tyler and Michael have done a good job of that. I hope the WNBA follows their lead.”

Crucially, the ‘WNBA Fan Code of Conduct’ permits teams to eject spectators, revoke tickets, and prevent people from attending games who do not adhere to the code of conduct. It states that a guest who attempts to enter the court can also be removed.

In Kanter Freedom’s case, he walked out with security after being asked to leave, but had he not, the rulebook suggests it would’ve resulted in “possible arrest and prosecution.”

The WNBA’s latest stance on the transgender controversy

Two weeks ago, the WNBA had said that “there are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA,” while condemning “bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”

The WNBA Players Association also mentioned, “We will continue to have hard conversations. But we will not be used as political pawns,” while denouncing hate, abuse, and the demonization of transgender people.

Even though there has been no official statement ever since, a league source told Front Office Sports that Kanter Freedom and White’s declarations are “simply publicity stunts” and confirmed the league is “not going to give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalize others.”

The W will continue to discuss the topic, but it “will not allow outside pressure or manufactured controversy to dictate league processes,” the source mentioned.

Article XIII of the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states, “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” The publicly discussed language does not define “women” or specify criteria based on sex assigned at birth, gender identity, transgender status, hormones, or medical requirements.

No openly transgender woman has played in a WNBA game to date.

The W has not publicly issued a formal ruling naming either man yet. Neither LeBron James nor Stephen Curry has publicly addressed the controversy.

With NBA training camps approaching in late September, Sage Steele’s comments have made the two legends part of the conversation even as the eligibility debate remains centered on the WNBA.