The ongoing transgender participation issue jumped from debates on social media to an actual on-court incident when Natasha Cloud confronted Enes Kanter Freedom on Sunday night’s Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game. After watching the altercation at Wintrust Arena, WNBA analyst Rachel DeMita has called out WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for once again staying silent as the crisis grows.

“This should be it for this conversation. And if it’s not it for this conversation, we should all be looking at Cathy [Engelbert]. Cathy needs to say something, needs to put her foot down, or needs to stop whatever this is. Can’t snowball anymore,” DeMita said on her Courtside Club podcast.

“So Cathy needs to protect her players. Cathy needs to protect her league. You’re coming off of this brand new CBA. These players are now making millions of dollars. Now they shouldn’t ‌still be the laughing stock of sports. You’ve got to figure it out.”

This has been a historic season for the WNBA. The league signed the 2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new CBA has allowed multiple players to sign contracts worth over a million for the first time in league history.

The league signed a $2.2 billion media deal for the first time in its history. The Indiana Fever have all of their 44 games being nationally televised. However, the historic season has been marred by stories like Enes Kanter Freedom.

Over two weeks after Sophie Cunningham said she wasn’t supportive of the idea of trans athletes in women’s sports, Enes Kanter Freedom set out on his unique defense of Cunningham’s stance by declaring his eligibility for the 2027 WNBA Draft on August 7.

Freedom wasn’t the only one, as another former NBA player, Royce White, did the same. However, instead of directly addressing the issue, the Cathy Engelbert-led Anti-Hate Task Force declared that their trans athlete eligibility policy or the fact that the CBA doesn’t define the word “woman” didn’t need any amending.

“We will approach these important conversations thoughtfully and in alignment with the values of our league. There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”

Yet, following the WNBA statement, Freedom has backed down and, on August 14, revealed that several male G League players would follow in his footsteps if the WNBA didn’t take action.

Finally, it all culminated in Natasha Cloud’s outburst at Freedom during a game, where the former Boston Celtics player actually had to be escorted outside the arena.

With the break from Aug. 31 to Sep. 16, Engelbert and the league’s front office will have some breathing space, and DeMita believes that it’s time for Cathy Engelbert to put a stop to the escalation amid Freedom’s announcement that he plans to attend every Indiana Fever postseason game.