Wow, am I late to the party on the recent WNBA madness! I couldn’t help it. I got two weeks ahead of schedule in preparation for going abroad for vacation, as I should have. And thus, I kept up on the developments in this ever-expanding kerfuffle via social media while touring Spain.
The situation looks for all the world like knee-jerk DEI getting out of hand in a very predictable way. There were glimmers here and there, such as the Golden State Valkyries’ Gabby Williams responding to a likely meaningless interview question by saying she’d look forward to playing with a transgender teammate. Yeah … provided that teammate didn’t take your roster spot thanks to enhanced physical capabilities. But, as we know, things got crazy once protector of teammates since childhood Sophie Cunningham gave an interview question response that trans athletes did not belong in women’s sports, and that males who identify as trans do not belong in women’s private spaces—particularly in girls’ private spaces.
Sophie Cunningham’s statement was, actually, a statement of the mainstream view, one that even if debated isn’t exactly controversial. It was treated practically as a blasphemy, an affront to polite society, an opinion beyond the pale—by coaches and execs of what is supposedly a women’s sports league, one that should by default be all Title IX and react in a pro-woman way. Actually, it was treated with an anti-discrimination template, one that presumes discrimination of any kind can only be the result of some kind of animus. Thus, the labeling of Sophie Cunningham as “anti-trans” when both she and her supporters point out she’s actually simply being pro-woman and pro-girl.
But if you want animus, I’ll give you the co-owner of the Seattle Storm who confronted two girls at courtside at a Storm-Indiana Fever game for their “Thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls!” sign. They’d brought the sign into the arena after a pre-game rally in the midst of a pending vote to ban trans athletes from girls’ competitions in Washington State, and were wearing XX-XY Sports t-shirts. This grown woman called teenagers “f---ing insane” to their faces. Meanwhile, the Storm’s coach was wearing a “Trans Kids Belong” t-shirt, and other fans had pro-trans athlete posters and left unmolested. One of the girls, it turned out, had lost a regional championship race in the last lap to a trans athlete. She actually had a dog in this fight, whereas the owner was simply a female dog, if you know what I mean.
By the beginning of the month, three other WNBA head coaches had joined the Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase (I’m so ashamed!) in calling for “inclusion” of trans players in the WNBA: the Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White, the Portland Fire’s Alex Sarama, the Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve. Three years ago, Reeve celebrated a court decision ordering a powerlifting organization to let a trans lifter compete in its women’s division. Coach Nat compared the “discrimination” against trans players to people telling her she, as a Japanese-American, doesn’t belong. Coach Nat trotted out all the dreary cliches: “For me, sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self.” Yeah, if your “authentic self” is a cheater.
This prompted OutKick founder Clay Travis to propose an all-transgender WNBA expansion franchise called the Nashville Balls. The team would consist exclusively of men who identify as women, including a 100% transgender coaching and management staff. Travis claiming it would be the “most inclusive” team in league history. He floated the idea of drafting French star Julie Tétart as the potential franchise player. She said who wouldn’t want to play in the WNBA, even though she’s on the older side.
But wait—there’s more! Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White declared they now identified as women, at least for the purposes of playing basketball, and would enter next year’s WNBA draft. After all, if all you have to do to be a woman is to identify as one, they would be eligible. Some people fumed that “fake transgender people” should stay out of the controversy. That said, who isn’t a fake transgender person? Nobody pro-trans is saying the men convicted of violent crimes who suddenly identify as women after transition in order to do their time in women’s prisons (where rapists can continue to rape) are “fake transgenders,” when clearly they are. And let’s remember that only 5-10% of people who identify as transgender have had or desire sex-reassignment surgery. Are all the rest “fake” transgenders as well?
The WNBA fumed, and held meetings to clarify who is a woman for purposes of the rule that only women may play in the WNBA. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, they were unable to define who is a woman. All they did was fume that Kanter and White were acting in bad faith … when what they’re doing is punking the League.
Now, they could make things easy by adopting an outdated Olympic standard of becoming eligible two years after sex-reassignment surgery. That won’t eliminate the inherent physical advantages of male birth and development, but it’s something. Here, though, they are hoist by their own petard of the “being your authentic self” standard. They would have to admit that losing the penis is a prerequisite to becoming a woman, and modern trans ideology will not accept that at all: it’s all in the identity. This risks arousing the wrath of the autogynephiles, the consequences of which might be endurable.
Amidst all this, multiple polls (Pew, NYT/Ipsos, Gallup) have found substantial majorities agreeing WITH Sophie Cunningham that that men who identify as women do not belong in women’s sports, and favoring policies requiring athletes to compete on teams matching their sex observed at birth. The League is losing sight of the fact that it is an exhibition business, and that the way to run a business is to give the customers what they want. The WNBA was not a successful, profitable standalone business before Caitlyn Clark lit it up. It was a financial liability for the NBA. “Glory days, well they’ll pass you by,” sings Bruce Springsteen. “Glory days, In the wink of a young girl’s eye.”
The League is certain to have to capitulate, and may not do so adroitly. Rational actors would identify this as an 80/20 issue, and act accordingly. Meanwhile, the twisting slowly in the wind will continue.
I sure hope this doesn’t destroy the League … though it could well suffer self-destruction by woke. Lay in popping corn and watch.