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Stephen A. Smith cheers as WNBA’s trans politics come under fire

August 11, 2026 | | Print Article

A touch of “trolling” didn’t stop Stephen A. Smith from getting fired up over the WNBA’s “flagrant hypocrisy” as he lauded two former basketballers for forcing a league position on gender ideology.


(Video Credit: Stephen A. Smith Sports)

Since men and boys playing in women’s and girls’ sports became a nationwide issue, it has too often been the girls who’ve been left alone to take a stand while opportunities and safe spaces were stolen from them by crazed alphabet activists. Now, as the rainbow mob has come after players and fans alike for defending girls’ sports, the decision by Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White to challenge the WNBA’s politics found Smith decrying the league and the “ridiculousness of our society.”

During Monday’s broadcast of his SiriusXM program, “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” the host recognized that Freedom and White declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft was “an act of trolling to some degree” before adding, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t respect his position.”

“They’re on a mission to point out the flagrant hypocrisy if the WNBA is willing to allow such a thing to transpire, unless they’re going to be rigid and dogged in their belief that the WNBA is for women,” said Smith.

Setting out to answer the question proven unanswerable by then-Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, that was also the focus of a documentary by the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced a task force to address exactly “What is a woman?”

With that in mind, Smith quoted the league’s collective bargaining agreement, “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” and asserted, “Seems clear, wouldn’t you say? Yes, until the debate comes about: What qualifies as a woman? That is where the ridiculousness of our society has come to! That is what they’re challenging!”

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Freedom said in his announcement, “If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA.”

In addition to his own declaration and a series of interviews, White shared a picture on social media adorned with a wig under the caption, “It came y’all… My 1st wig! Tomorrow I test it on the court. This is my feminine era glow up, did I slay? If y’all don’t ‘yassss queen’ you’re transphobic. I really don’t understand all the hatred, I just want to play some hoops with my fellow ladies.”

Many suspect, if not simply racism, that remaining unapologetically in favor of protecting girls’ and women’s sports led to Sophie Cunningham getting fouled over the weekend, a move that Florida’s attorney general said would have earned assault and battery charges. Meanwhile, fans of Cunningham were berated by Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton, who was ultimately fined and suspended, and at the same time coaches around the league have remained flummoxed by questions about whether the league should allow men who think they’re women to play.

The inability to curb nonsense by simply affirming reality found Smith asserting, “See, what the WNBA wants to sit up there and posture about, ‘We won’t allow things to be politicized.’ As if you can control it! There’s only one way to control it: have more control over your product. Have a clear definition as to what defines a woman, what defines a female. Otherwise, you’re gonna have cats 6’8″ with goatees walking in yo’ league.”

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Kevin Haggerty
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