As former NBA players jump into the heated gender debate surrounding women’s basketball, Cheryl Miller would rather keep the conversation where it belongs: within the WNBA. She has strongly pushed back against Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, who challenged the league’s player eligibility criteria through mock draft declarations.

When TMZ caught up with her, Miller dismissed the duo’s viral announcements that they intend to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft. She revealed a conversation with WNBA legend Sue Bird to draw a line.

“Number one, they [Kanter and White] are stirring the pot,” Miller stated. “Number two, if you want to stir anything, stir your game up.

“You want to do any stirring, stir your game up. All right? It’s just, you know, more people trying to hijack the narrative for the WNBA players. And I, Sue Bird and myself and Maria Taylor [sportscaster for NBC Sports], we said the other night that it’s our story. We’ll tell it.

“We’ll make the adjustments where we need to make the adjustments. But right now, I’m not giving them, those two in particular, a whole lot of thought because it’s outsiders looking to hijack our narrative.”

Cheryl Miller labeled their actions as “horrible energy” driven by viral attention rather than a genuine investment in women’s sports.

“I would have loved to have seen these two sitting courtside, you know, watching the game 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 5 years ago, 5 minutes ago, but now all of a sudden, y’all got a collective think tank? Man, shut that noise up.”

Cheryl Miller’s opinion matters. From 1982 to 1986, she was one of the few faces of collegiate basketball at USC, helping push the women’s game into the spotlight. In fact, her brilliance reached the international stage in 1984, when she led the U.S. Olympic team to gold while averaging more than 16 points per game.

No wonder Sports Illustrated named her the best college basketball player (male or female) in 1986. Unfortunately, the WNBA didn’t exist during her time as a player. But she did what she could for the league.

Miller took her talents to the Phoenix Mercury, becoming the franchise’s first head coach and general manager. Over her four years at the helm, she guided the team to three playoff appearances, including a run to the 1998 WNBA Finals.

She also coached several college teams as well as had a great broadcasting career.

Cheryl Miller advocates for WNBA’s player-led change

Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White leveraged the lack of clarity in the eligibility criteria in the WNBA’s CBA to declare for the draft. White also made repeated threats to sue if his mock-declaration is disregarded.

The ongoing discourse has forced WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to address the matter internally. Engelbert sent an official league-wide memo to franchises to form a task force of team executives and outline the eligibility framework.

Despite the administrative noise, Miller emphasized that her immediate priorities remain entirely anchored to the fierce on-court competition defining the current WNBA regular season. When pressed on when governing bodies should formally step in, Miller felt it should be after the regular season so it doesn’t take away from the competition.

“You know what? I would definitely let cooler heads prevail right now,” Miller told TMZ. “And look, we want to protect everyone in general. We want to protect everyone, and we don’t want to exclude anyone, but I just think we all have to sit down in the offseason collectively get our heads and minds around this issue.”

While the WNBA has not made any public comment on the issue, the players’ union issued a statement that they won’t allow WNBA players to be used as “political pawns.” Miller, along with Sue Bird, echoed that sentiment on NBC on Sunday.

Reflecting on how the players banded together to negotiate the brand new CBA, Miller said:

“I want them to do the same things that they did during that time and stand up for their brand. This is our brand, and not watch a bunch of outsiders hijack the league and our narrative.”

Bird backed her, stating, “I do think there are people trying to leverage our league for their own personal gain. What I learned is you have tough conversations behind closed doors and strategize.”

Whether the players take heed or not, Miller wants to preserve the current competitive excitement of the WNBA without the external noise. It will be on Engelbert’s task force to ensure that.