Julie Tétart recently declared for the 2027 WNBA draft following a standout season in France’s second-tier women’s basketball division. The 34-year-old transgender athlete averaged 21.2 points and 20.2 rebounds across 25 regular-season games for the Monaco Basket Association. This international declaration immediately prompted a massive legal warning from a prominent sports performance coach.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Linda Blade voiced severe frustration regarding the WNBA’s handling of transgender athlete declarations. She explicitly compared Tétart’s bid to previous declarations made by biological men formerly playing in the NBA.
“CORRECTION:
👉🏼 MAN from France who self-identifies as a woman declares for 2027 WNBA draft. This is no different than the other ex-NBA MEN who have also declared for the @WNBA draft,” Linda Blade said in a post on X on September 1. She subsequently highlighted a potential lawsuit based on how the league processes these specific applications.
Blade firmly believes accepting Tétart while rejecting others establishes clear legal jeopardy for the organization.
“Let’s see if the #WNBA lets them all in. 🧐 If they allow this guy in and not the others, it is a legitimate basis for a discrimination suit. It really doesn’t have to be this difficult,” Blade noted.
Tétart publicly addressed the prospect of entering the American league during a recent media appearance. The 34-year-old French athlete views joining the WNBA as a massive personal milestone after returning to competitive basketball in 2024 following transition.
“If they contact me, I won’t say no,” Tétart said, per French sports newspaper L’Équipe. “It’s a childhood dream,” she added, per Marca.
This international development directly follows a highly publicized campaign launched by a former NBA center.
Amid The Furore, Kanter Insists On Dropping His Bid For The Draft On A Certain Condition
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White previously declared their eligibility for the 2027 WNBA draft to protest current league policies. They insisted nothing in the current collective bargaining agreement prevents their participation.
Article XIII limits eligibility to “players who are women” without explicitly defining gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Kanter Freedom recently offered a highly specific compromise to formally end his controversial draft campaign.
The former NBA big man promised to withdraw his declaration if the WNBA formally clarifies its biological definitions.
“If they come out tomorrow and say only biological females are eligible to play, I’d drop everything,” Kanter said. “Until then, I am eligible to play.”
This public standoff immediately drew strong support from a prominent political figure.
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert aggressively backed Kanter Freedom during a brief interview with TMZ. She argued the former NBA player successfully exposed the “idiocy” of the league’s administrative handling of the situation. The politician firmly supported his public challenges to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. The league must quickly resolve this growing eligibility crisis as the 2026 basketball calendar progresses through early September.