Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Declare as WNBA Prospects to Challenge Trans Athlete Policies

[00:00] I'm transgender. I'm a woman. I'm I

[00:03] identify as sometimes identifying as a

[00:05] woman for purposes of of basketball,

[00:08] professional basketball. So, I'll be

[00:10] declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as

[00:13] well.

[00:13] >> The trans athlete debate is back in full

[00:15] swing and it's taking an interesting

[00:16] turn as former NBA players are coming

[00:19] forward to declare themselves WNBA

[00:22] prospects. They're raising their hands

[00:24] saying, "I'm a woman. Let me play with

[00:25] the ladies. Let's talk about it.

[00:29] >> [music]

[00:32] >> Yeah, you better.

[00:35] >> Guys, before we get into today's video,

[00:37] please like and subscribe. I just had a

[00:39] baby, right? But I have to be back to

[00:41] make this video. I had to react to this.

[00:43] We have former NBA player Anes Caner

[00:46] Freedom coming forward and saying, "I'd

[00:48] like to be a WNBA prospect. The

[00:50] guidelines would allow me to do so

[00:52] because I can selfidentify as a woman.

[00:54] Put me out on the court."

[00:57] Let's watch his announcement video.

[01:00] [music]

[01:05] >> After careful consideration and

[01:06] reviewing the current eligibility

[01:08] guidelines, I am officially declaring

[01:09] myself a WNBA prospect.

[01:12] >> Look at him. Listen to the voice. Come

[01:15] on now. Okay. If he goes out on that

[01:17] court and even bumps one of these women,

[01:19] she's getting knocked in the next week.

[01:22] I mean that so seriously. And this is

[01:24] literally what people are advocating

[01:25] for, that biological men who

[01:27] self-identify as women just be allowed

[01:29] to compete against these girls. And we

[01:31] all know how it's going to go. We have

[01:33] to be, I don't even know, looking into a

[01:37] different world to think that the women

[01:40] are going to be able to compete against

[01:42] men like this. The WNBA would be gone in

[01:45] 2 seconds if things like this are

[01:47] allowed. It'd be overtaken by biological

[01:50] men. But hey, I guess it's transphobic

[01:53] to say that.

[01:54] >> If simply declaring who you are is all

[01:57] that's required, then I meet every

[01:59] single requirement necessary to compete

[02:01] in the WNBA. My team and I have

[02:03] carefully examined the WNBA's

[02:05] eligibility criteria and governing

[02:07] framework surrounding

[02:08] self-identification and inclusion. Based

[02:11] on the current guidelines, I can and am

[02:13] officially declaring my eligibility for

[02:15] the upcoming WNBA draft in May 2027. I

[02:18] am definitely not here to mock, make fun

[02:20] of, or disrespect any community or

[02:22] personal choices. I am simply asking

[02:25] that the current rules be applied

[02:27] equally to everyone. The rules that

[02:28] represent the very values many WNBA

[02:31] players and coaches have publicly

[02:33] advocated for. My team and I are

[02:35] prepared to ensure these guidelines are

[02:36] applied equally, consistently, and

[02:39] without exception, and I look forward to

[02:41] the WNBA honoring its stated principles.

[02:44] See you at training camp.

[02:46] Not the stay tuned. Stay tuned.

[02:48] [laughter]

[02:49] I like that he says he's not trying to

[02:50] mock or call out any particular

[02:52] community or alienate anybody. If you

[02:54] are an adult and you want to identify as

[02:56] trans and go through the transition and

[02:58] switch your pronouns and do all this

[03:00] stuff, you can do that within your

[03:02] personal life. But we do have to

[03:04] maintain the things that keep our

[03:07] society going and that protect the

[03:09] rights, the the freedoms, the lives of

[03:12] uh both men and women under these

[03:14] circumstances. And one of those things

[03:16] that needs to be protected is women's

[03:18] sports. It won't be protected if Anzer

[03:21] Freedom [laughter] can declare himself a

[03:23] woman and then go out in the court. You

[03:26] thought that Caitlyn Clark was getting

[03:27] her ass beat? these women would be

[03:29] getting their ASB and it would be by

[03:31] accident, not on purpose like the women

[03:33] are doing right now in the WNBA. This is

[03:36] insane, but it is the natural conclusion

[03:38] of what a lot of people in the WNBA and

[03:41] out in the world are advocating for.

[03:42] They are advocating that biological men

[03:44] with their distinct biological

[03:45] advantages be able to compete against

[03:47] women. And it will take it all the way

[03:50] to the, you know, upper echelon of

[03:53] sports competition. And guess what? The

[03:56] women are not going to win. They are not

[03:58] going to win this battle whatsoever. I

[04:01] guess some of them will convince

[04:02] themselves that they are. Here's WNBA

[04:04] star Gabby Williams who says it's okay.

[04:07] Allow trans athletes to compete in the

[04:09] WNBA. Now, this comes on the heels of

[04:12] Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever

[04:14] saying it's common sense. Men need to be

[04:17] separate. She got a lot of hate for

[04:18] that. She's called transphobic. Her name

[04:21] is being, you know, dragged through the

[04:22] dirt for for saying that. It is common

[04:25] sense. I fear. Here's Gabby Williams

[04:27] saying I guess it's not.

[04:28] >> I think it's trans trans rights now is

[04:30] our new battle. That's what I think I

[04:32] was saying that like the battles have

[04:33] changed.

[04:34] >> Oh yeah.

[04:34] >> You know like our intentions been the

[04:35] same but now that the environment has

[04:37] changed. We see trans people's rights

[04:38] being you know stripped away from them.

[04:40] There's a lot of discour discourse

[04:41] around trans athletes and what they can

[04:44] compete in. I would welcome a trans

[04:45] athlete uh on my team or against my team

[04:48] anytime. I I don't think it's a problem

[04:50] in the world. It's just another way to

[04:52] kind of attack trans people. uh you know

[04:56] we've seen we've seen players like Leia

[04:57] Clarendon uh who who stepped into that

[05:00] forefront and have been brave enough and

[05:01] courageous enough to kind of step up. So

[05:03] I guess that's the next battle that we

[05:05] have to fight as athletes.

[05:06] >> H if this is the battle that you're

[05:08] choosing, I don't think you're going to

[05:09] be an athlete for much longer. These

[05:11] teams are going to be done again in the

[05:13] snap of a finger with men being allowed

[05:16] to compete against these women. Now, I

[05:18] did look into the eligibility guidelines

[05:20] that Anz Cananter Freedom was talking

[05:22] about in his video that apparently

[05:25] safeguard his ability to be a WNBA

[05:28] prospect. Now, this is from the

[05:30] Washington Times. It says, "The WNBA's

[05:32] collective bargaining agreement does not

[05:33] contain a self-identification standard.

[05:35] That the 49page agreement states only

[05:39] that quote only players who are women

[05:41] are eligible to play in the WNBA. It

[05:44] does not define a woman or address

[05:46] gender identity anywhere in the

[05:48] document. So you kind of are leaving it

[05:51] as an open season for men to declare

[05:54] themselves a woman and to compete

[05:57] against these biological women. And we

[06:00] have to just accept that there are

[06:02] differences or we're just going to watch

[06:05] those differences play out with little

[06:07] schemes like this. And you know what? I

[06:11] don't know whether or not I want this to

[06:12] be fulfilled and I want him to go on to

[06:16] compete against these women. It would be

[06:17] something to watch. It would be

[06:19] something to see. But can we just for a

[06:21] moment accept the reality of things and

[06:24] move on as a society from this argument

[06:26] because we all know what the reality is.

[06:29] I think deep down you have to be just

[06:32] closing your eyes, covering your ears to

[06:34] not know that biological men shouldn't

[06:37] be competing against women. Now, an

[06:39] escer freedom is not the only former

[06:42] WNBA player coming forward to say, "I'm

[06:46] going to join the WNBA draft." Okay,

[06:48] here's Royce White.

[06:50] >> Oh, earlier this week, I made the

[06:51] announcement. I'm transgender. I'm a

[06:54] woman. I'm I identify as sometimes

[06:56] identifying as a woman for purposes of

[06:59] of basketball, professional basketball.

[07:01] So, I'll be

[07:02] >> declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as

[07:05] well. I

[07:06] >> I mean, I think I'd be unstoppable. Um,

[07:09] you know, but I'm I'm a team first guy.

[07:11] You know, I'm a I'm a pass first kind of

[07:13] player. I do the little things. You

[07:15] know, I led my team in all five major

[07:17] stack categories at at Iowa State

[07:19] University. Uh, so I do a little bit of

[07:21] everything. I'll do whatever the coach

[07:22] needs me to do. I'll do whatever the the

[07:24] the girls need me to do. I think the

[07:26] WNBA could come out and make a

[07:28] definitive statement about about guys

[07:30] with with a pair of balls playing in the

[07:32] in the women's association, but you

[07:34] know, hey, that that that'd be that'd be

[07:37] probably too much like right. So, and I

[07:39] don't want to be discriminated against.

[07:41] No, I I want I want fair treatment. I'm

[07:43] a black uh I'm a young black hopefully

[07:48] United States senator uh that that like

[07:50] that would like a fair chance to to

[07:52] participate as a sometimes identifying

[07:55] as a transgender woman uh uh athlete.

[07:58] >> Let him on the court. Let him on the

[08:01] court. See what happens. He did say he

[08:03] would be unstoppable. He would literally

[08:06] be unstoppable.

[08:08] And you know what the irony is? I think

[08:10] if these [laughter] if these former NBA

[08:12] players who were coming out of the

[08:13] woodwork actually went and played for

[08:16] the WNBA, they'd probably be a whole lot

[08:18] nicer to each other than these women are

[08:20] to each other. Have you seen how they're

[08:22] treating each other? Have you seen how

[08:24] Caitlyn Clark is being treated? Maybe

[08:26] they need some male energy out on that

[08:28] court to just regulate whatever is

[08:30] happening out there right now, but

[08:32] that's a whole another video for a whole

[08:34] different day. Now, Royce White also

[08:37] posted this. I haven't even been

[08:40] publicly trans for 72 hours and I'm

[08:42] already getting so much hate. I just

[08:44] want to hoop with my girls in my

[08:45] feminine era. [laughter]

[08:48] Why can't y'all be happy for me?

[08:52] >> Between hockey and basketball.

[08:58] >> Just let him hoop with his ladies. Let

[09:00] him hoop with his girls. [laughter]

[09:02] Guys, how many more times does this need

[09:04] to happen? I can think of several sports

[09:06] where we've already seen a man come

[09:08] forward and pun intended dunk on women

[09:11] whilst identifying as one. We've seen it

[09:14] in volleyball. We've seen it in

[09:16] swimming, surfing, soccer already.

[09:20] Skating, you name it, we've seen this

[09:22] come to fruition time and time again.

[09:25] Now, people will retort back and say

[09:27] that this is a non-issue. And

[09:30] essentially the argument that they're

[09:31] making is this is not really happening

[09:34] all that often. So that's to acknowledge

[09:36] that this shouldn't be happening. But

[09:38] the issue is just so small that we don't

[09:40] even need to address it. Okay. Well, if

[09:43] it shouldn't be happening, it shouldn't

[09:45] be happening. And if you do have

[09:47] loopholes in your system right now that

[09:48] would allow an cancer freedom and Royce

[09:51] White to play against these women, maybe

[09:53] we need to close those loopholes off.

[09:56] Simple as that. And if you get called a

[09:58] trans phobe for saying what is true, so

[10:01] be it. Be called a trans phobe. And you

[10:04] will watch as women like WNBA player

[10:07] Gabby Williams come forward with their

[10:09] own suicidal empathy and to their own

[10:11] detriment, advocate for policy and

[10:14] eligibility guidelines that would mean

[10:16] the end of their career in the WNBA if

[10:20] enough men took advantage of what they

[10:23] were advocating for. It's just

[10:25] ridiculous. And sometimes you need to

[10:27] see what a seven foot tall man declare

[10:30] himself a woman to understand just how

[10:33] wrong this is. It shouldn't take that.

[10:35] We shouldn't need that and we certainly

[10:37] shouldn't need it to happen twice in the

[10:38] span of 24 hours for us to understand

[10:41] that this is not the reality that we

[10:43] want. But here we are. Guys, I'd love to

[10:45] hear your thoughts. Those are mine. Drop

[10:47] them in the comments down below. As

[10:48] always, I encourage healthy debate on

[10:49] this channel. If you disagree with

[10:50] anything I said in this video, duke it

[10:52] out, but do so respectfully. And guys,

[10:54] thank you so much for all your wonderful

[10:56] comments and all the love and support

[10:59] under my last video about having my

[11:01] little baby girl, Marsen, too. We

[11:03] appreciate it so much in this house. I

[11:05] thank you, John. Thanks. The whole

[11:08] family thanks you guys. And I will see

[11:10] you guys again with another video soon.

[11:13] Bye guys.