A WNBA anti-hate task force issued a statement Wednesday denouncing those who are using the league as the staging grounds for their culture wars regarding transgender athletes.

The task force, which met virtually, said, “There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalise others.”

The statement came after the WNBA has increasingly been used in political and cultural arguments and after two former NBA players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, declared themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft last week in what has been viewed largely as a publicity stunt.

Both declared their eligibility last Friday, claiming they identify as women.

The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement mentions that only women can play in the league, but it offers no details about birth sex or gender identity.

A WNBA task force of team presidents and general managers met Wednesday and discussed transgender athletes but did not arrive at any eligibility rules, according to a statement sent to ESPN by a league spokesperson.https://t.co/woN41EFRHC

— ESPN (@espn) August 13, 2026

Freedom played 11 seasons in the NBA and became involved in politics when he spoke out against the government of his native Türkiye and changed his name.

White played a total of nine minutes and scored zero points in the NBA. He was the Republican Party’s nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Minnesota in 2024, losing the race Amy Klobuchar.

In July, Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile, “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

No transgender person has ever played in the WNBA.

Cunningham’s comments sparked some rallies and protests from fans, and left coaches and players answering a barrage of questions about issues unrelated to the current season.

Until Wednesday’s statement from the task force, the WNBA and commissioner Cathy Engelbert were silent on the matter, leaving individual actors without larger public relations help.

Since Cunningham’s comments, some in the league have vocalised support for trans people, with Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve being the most vocal. But WNBA participants on either side of the political spectrum appear frustrated that the issue has overshadowed headlines from the actual basketball court in the public eye.

Before Tuesday’s 106-92 win over the New York Liberty, Fever coach Stephanie White delivered a passionate statement of frustration.

“The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win,” White said.

“We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided," White said Tuesday, pounding her fist on the table several times while speaking. "Every day, these women put their ass on the line. Every day, when they go low, we go high. Love will win, grace will win, humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them.

“Everybody else can go to hell.”

It is worth noting, then, that the Fever have gone 7-2 in their last nine games to climb to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.