Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White will not be playing in the WNBA anytime soon.
According to Front Office Sports, league sources have confirmed that neither former NBA player is eligible to play in the WNBA, despite both declaring their intentions to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft.
Freedom and White sparked controversy earlier this month when they announced plans to enter the WNBA draft while arguing that the league’s current eligibility framework could allow them to participate.
However, the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” The agreement does not provide a detailed definition of gender identity or establish an automatic eligibility pathway based solely on self-identification.
The league has also pushed back against what it considers bad-faith attempts to manufacture controversy around its eligibility policies. League sources told Front Office Sports that the WNBA does not currently have an immediate eligibility issue requiring action and will not allow outside pressure to dictate its processes.
The controversy comes just one day after Freedom was ejected from the WNBA’s Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game following a confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Freedom was escorted from the arena after the incident.
For now, the bottom line is clear: declaring for the WNBA Draft does not mean Freedom or White are actually eligible to play in the league.
The WNBA can continue discussing its eligibility policies, but league sources have indicated that neither former NBA player has a path onto a WNBA roster under the league’s current rules.
Sneaker Shop Talk Take: Whatever your position on the broader debate, this latest report removes some of the uncertainty surrounding Freedom and White’s draft declarations. They can make the declaration, but that doesn’t make them WNBA players—or eligible to become WNBA players.
