Enes Kanter Freedom wanted to put WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert on the hot seat. Now, Jason Page is doing the exact same thing to him. After Kanter challenged Engelbert to defend the league’s handling of transgender eligibility in a public “peace summit,” the veteran analyst fired back with a challenge of his own: if Kanter wants a real debate, he should be ready to defend his position too.

“Enes Kanter Freedom has a challenge for WNBA commissioner Kathy Engelbert. He wants her to sit down with him publicly and defend the WNBA’s position as it relates to transgender women participating in the league. In fact, Enes said this: if you truly believe in your position, you should have no problem defending it publicly,” Page said in his post on X on August 31.

“Okay, Enes, I agree, but that standard applies to you too, so I’m officially inviting and challenging Enes Kanter Freedom to come on Sportswrap and have that conversation with me. Not on Fox News with Laura Ingraham, not in an interview where everybody sitting across from you already agrees with you. Come into a forum where you’re going to be asked some actual questions about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, because I have plenty of them.”

Earlier, Kanter Freedom had challenged Cathy Engelbert for a public debate in his proposed “peace summit,” which would apparently be moderated by Caitlyn Jenner.

“I’m not a troublemaker. I’m more of a peacemaker. Listen, the whole world is laughing at you. You have turned the #WNBA into a laughingstock. It’s time to stop hiding behind closed-door meetings, excuses, and delays and finally give the public a clear answer. Let’s have the peace summit. No shouting. No hiding. No carefully scripted statements,” read Kanter Freedom’s post on August 31.

Kanter Freedom then put the ball in Engelbert’s court and asked her to defend her stance.

“If you truly believe in your position, you should have no problem defending it publicly.”

Kanter Freedom’s choice of moderator has only made the proposed “peace summit” more controversial. He wants Caitlyn Jenner, who came out as transgender in 2015 and won Olympic gold in the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Games, to moderate the debate. According to Kanter Freedom, Jenner has already agreed.

Kanter Freedom’s latest move has dragged the WNBA’s eligibility rules right back into the spotlight, reopening questions the league has yet to fully settle publicly.

Kanter Freedom and Royce White previously declared themselves “women” and claimed eligibility for the 2027 WNBA Draft. But league sources told AP and Reuters on August 24 that neither is eligible, without publicly explaining why.

Article XIII of the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” However, it does not clearly define that language in terms of gender identity or s*x assigned at birth.

The WNBA’s anti-hate task force met virtually on August 12 and discussed several issues, including transgender athletes. Hours later, the league released a statement saying there were “no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others.”

There is another complication. WNBA eligibility rules are collectively bargained between the league and its players, meaning Engelbert cannot simply rewrite them on her own.

Meanwhile, Kanter Freedom’s fight has moved beyond eligibility rules. He has threatened legal action against the Chicago Sky and owner Michael Alter after being ejected from Wintrust Arena following his confrontation with Natasha Cloud. The Sky later banned him from attending its home games at the arena.

Whether Engelbert accepts Kanter Freedom’s “peace summit” remains to be seen. But the challenge has now come full circle. Kanter Freedom demanded that Engelbert publicly defend her position, and Page is demanding the same from him.

For now, Kanter Freedom has not publicly responded to Page’s invitation.

What intensified after Sophie Cunningham’s comments has now turned into a much wider fight over WNBA policy, who gets to define eligibility, and whether the league needs to make its rules clearer.