Another former NBA player has inserted himself into the debate over trans athlete participation in the WNBA.
Matt Ryan, who used to play forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, posted on social media on Monday in defense of fellow former player Enes Kanter Freedom, who has been on a tear against the WNBA’s current policy on trans participation and was recently ejected from a game after sparring with a player.
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Ryan posted a screenshot of a comment he made on Instagram, saying we are living in “insane times” because Kanter Freedom has been “demonized for trying to PROTECT women’s sports and calling out the absurdity that the WNBA cannot define what the W is.”
Along with the screenshot, Ryan added more commentary, claiming that more than 80% of the country has “the most basic of common sense” and can “clearly define what a woman is” and knows “someone not born as a woman should not participate in women’s sports.”
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He claimed this was not a transphobic stance and that cis women “should not be forced to adhere to absurdity for the sake of feelings.”
Earlier this month, Kanter Freedom joined the trans athlete debate currently consuming the WNBA when he posted a statement and video on X saying that after “reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a @WNBA prospect.”
He was drawing attention to the fact that the WNBA eligibility guidelines do not have specific requirements for participation beyond a person identifying as a woman. But since there has never been an out trans player in the WNBA, the guidelines have not caused any issues.
He then attended a game in a floor seat wearing an anti-trans shirt, which is when he clashed with a player and got ejected.
He has since appeared on Fox News to discuss the incident and continues to insist he will pretend to identify as a woman and try out for a WNBA team unless the league updates its vague policy.
“Enes has ZERO intention of stepping foot on a WNBA court,” Ryan said, “if you can’t recognize that l, I’m not sure how to help you. He’s simply, and very publicly, challenging the highest league in women’s basketball to do what is right.”
Radio Host Charlamagne tha God slammed Kanter Freedom this week for centering himself in a debate that has nothing to do with him.
“How did protecting women become making yourself the main character in women’s spaces?” the commentator said. “That’s what I don’t understand. You don’t protect women’s spaces by walking into women’s spaces and making the whole damn space about you. If you have to manufacture the crisis you’re warning everybody about… You’re not raising awareness of a problem, you actually are the problem.”
Many on social media agreed with this argument, replying to Ryan’s post to point out that Kanter Freedom is merely trying to get attention by creating a problem where one does not exist.
Tensions in the league began when Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham said in a July ESPN interview that banning trans women from women’s sports is “common sense.”
Cunningham then doubled down on her beliefs, claiming that she doesn’t hate trans people but just wants “to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Now all eyes are on the league, with both pro- and anti-trans activists rallying to support or protest Cunningham, and players and coaches being pressured to take public stances.
Cunningham has also since aligned herself with virulently anti-trans activist Riley Gaines. The two were photographed together at a game earlier this month. In the picture, Gaines is sporting a T-shirt from the anti-trans brand XX-XY Athletics.
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