I’ve said that the WNBA would be the next ground zero for the trans sports debate, and boy was I right. This was inevitable, of course, and I don’t think anyone believes that the WNBA wanted to be in this position at all. The league probably didn’t expect it actually would become an issue for them, which was foolish. Key figures in the league, from players to coaches, made their positions on the issue of men in women’s sports clear, and it’s all about to blow up in their faces, and neither the league nor trans ideology will emerge unscathed.
A memo landed Friday afternoon, probably in the hope that it wouldn’t get much media attention. Whoops. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert wants franchises ready for a question reporters keep asking, one the league has dodged for weeks while quietly building a task force behind closed doors. This won’t end well for anyone. Sophie Cunningham already said the quiet part out loud. Now the league has to decide if it agrees with her. Will it?
The memo, obtained by the Associated Press, went out on that Friday afternoon. At least Engelbert didn't pretend the topic would go away. "I know many of you have received questions in recent weeks regarding transgender athlete participation in women's basketball, and I expect this topic will continue to receive significant attention," she wrote. She also thanked the coaches and executives who'd fielded reporters' questions "with thoughtfulness and professionalism," a compliment that says more about how nervous the league is than anything else.
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According to the memo, a task force of team presidents and general managers will take up the subject at a meeting already on the calendar for the following week. That's a lot of institutional machinery for a question the league has already insisted has an easy answer.
So, what exactly is there to discuss? WNBA coaches have spent weeks insisting the league wants to be "inclusive." Critics pilloried Indiana Fever guard Cunningham this summer after she said that men do not belong in women's basketball. She’s been attacked by other players, and those attacks have been essentially sanctioned by the referees. If the league's leadership actually believes what its own coaches keep saying, letting biological men play is the only logical next step. Anything short of that turns every "inclusive" talking point into just empty words.
Let's be honest here: this outcome was obvious from the moment "trans women are women" became a mandatory line from every “ally.” It's surprising that so few of the league's loudest voices saw it coming. Deep down, plenty of them already know letting males compete against women is wrong. They just haven't worked up the nerve to say so, because the one word they fear more than losing games is "transphobic."
If everyone in the WNBA who has spoken in favor of trans athletes playing in the league truly believed their own slogan, there would be no task force, no memo, and no meeting on the calendar. There would be nothing to discuss at all. The need for discussion is actually a crisis meeting. They know what’s at stake. If the WNBA lets men play, it can claim to be inclusive. If it doesn’t, it undermines trans ideology. And the worst part is, there are actually a lot of people watching to see exactly what the league does.
Either the WNBA stands up for women, or it doesn’t. Either choice will have fallout.
