The WNBA releases a statement

Yesterday on this Substack I imagined (in parody form) what the WNBA meeting to decide who is eligible to play in the league might be like. If you missed it, you can read it here.

While I was obviously joking around, as it turns out, I was 100% correct. ESPN reported on the happenings at that meeting last night. Here’s the statement from the WNBA:

“Today’s meeting covered a wide range of topics, including ongoing discussions on transgender athletes and the continued hate and vitriol directed at players online. We will continue to engage all league stakeholders in the coming weeks and months. 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.”

Ok . . . so . . . we made no decisions. We will keep discussing with “stakeholders” (I literally wrote that this is exactly what they would say), you are all very bad people for being mean to a marginalized group. You’re all using this moment to demean trans. And we still don’t know what the W stands for.

No decision.

No definition of woman.

No nothing. Just a bunch of we’re thinking about it, we’re having conversations.

Why? Why can’t they just make a simple statement, just like the WTA did — which, by the way, caused no upheaval and was supported by all the top layers?

Well, some speculation . . .

The WNBA has an agenda and it’s not basketball. They are a politics first, woke organization. They think it’s still 2020 and everyone wants to defund the police.

This is not a serious organization. Or a real business.

They have a moment to become profitable because of Caitlin Clark and they are squandering that opportunity. They fail to stand against the abuse that has been heaped upon her on the court, to tell the players who are attacking her to cut it out. To tell the refs to intervene. To call the flagrants in real time. And, almost more importantly, they are failing to lead with her in their marketing efforts when she is what the audience wants.

Half the players and staff seem to be sleeping together.

The infamous DiJonai Carrington (of Sophie clotheslining fame) used to date fellow WNBA player NaLyssa Smith, a forward for the Las Vegas Aces.

Cheryl Reeve, the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx team, is married to Carley Knox, the President of Business Operations for the Minnesota Lynx. Seriously? Conflict much?

Stephanie White, the head coach for the Indiana Fever (the one who defended DiJonai Carrington from the Chicago Sky, instead of her own player), is partnered with ESPN sideline reporter and journalist Lisa Salters. Conflict much? Is Salters going to report honestly on the Fever and on White?

A few days ago, White defended DiJonai Carrington — the player who tried to rip Cunningham’s head off during the Chicago v Fever game on August 8th. Keep in mind, White defended the player on the opposing team! Not her own player!

Later White said she hadn’t seen the replay and she didn’t know how flagrant the flagrant was. But why wouldn’t your default be to defend your own team if you didn’t know what had happened (which I don’t believe is true)?

Well, people on-line went nuts and called White on her bullshit. So she responded 2 days ago . . . by getting mad at everyone who called her on her bullshit.

White got real mad about the online criticism of her not standing with her own players. In a rant, she basically said I will always lead with grace, humility and kindness — and you can all go to hell.

This person doesn’t even make any sense. She just repeats the dumb talking points (grace, humility, integrity) just like a few weeks ago when all the coaches were spouting off about inclusion being the highest value — in a very exclusive pro league where only .8% of college players make the cut! After declaring her own goodness, White goes on to berate the fans and the press by telling them to go to hell.

Just what a league that is trying to attract viewers and ticket buyers needs! Coaches telling those potential fans to f-off.

I mean the whole thing is like a joke of an organization. Conflicts of interest everywhere.

It’s being run like a high school drama club that somehow got handed a professional sports league.

The director is married to the stage manager, the lead is dating the critic who’s supposed to cover the show, everyone is sleeping with someone else in the cast, and they’re still somehow shocked that the production isn’t making money while the one actual star keeps packing the house.

The WNBA’s hand will be forced on what the W is. They can kick the can down the road all they want but if they fail to make a decision then Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White will be in the 2027 draft. They can choose to direct teams not to recruit them, not to give them contracts, but then they’d likely have some legal entanglements on their hands.

Folks suspect that the reason the WNBA doesn’t want to set clear eligibility guidelines (i.e. sex testing) is that there are already males in the league. Not trans, per se. But males with DSDS. I think this may be true. We have no way of knowing but it is certainly possible. And if they implemented testing and then had to kick certain players out of the league — and they possibly knew this all along, that would be embarrassing.

But what they are doing now is embarrassing so . . . pick your poison WNBA.

If the league were to set a clear boundary on the W, the statement would/should be:

We are not anti-trans. Or anti anyone. But this is a women’s league. We have trans players in the league. Players like Layshia Clarendon, who was assigned female at birth and publicly identifies as non-binary and “transmasculine.” We are not anti trans. We are inclusive. Except for the men. No men.

(I’m using their language so please forgive me.)

The likelihood of them ever making a statement like this is zero. But the longer they wait, the more embarrassing it all becomes for them.