And it's not Sophie Cunningham.The WNBA doesn't need another statement.It needs a definition.The league says outside forces are trying to hijack women's basketball.They won’t name who or what that is.But there is a remarkably simple way to stop them.Clearly define who is eligible to play in the Women’s National Basketball Association.THE WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION CAN'T DEFINE A 'WOMAN,' AND IT'S BEYOND SHAMEFULWNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks before the WNBA basketball draft in New York on April 13, 2026.
(Pamela Smith/AP)Funny how quickly a hypothetical becomes real when somebody finally has to write the rule.Last week, I wrote that the WNBA had backed itself into a corner.Turns out somebody at league headquarters finally noticed the walls.WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has now told teams that the league is discussing transgender-player eligibility and expects those conversations to continue.Good.It's about time.Because the WNBA doesn't need another statement.It needs a definition.The league's collective bargaining agreement says:"Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA."Seems pretty straightforward.Except it doesn't define what a woman is.That might have been an amusing legal omission when the question was theoretical.It isn't anymore.THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!Turkish-American former basketball player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is seen prior to a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Ill., on Aug.
23, 2026.(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White say they want to enter the WNBA Draft.They're making a point.French transgender basketball player Julie Tétart, who is biologically male, is already playing professional women's basketball overseas.Suddenly the question isn't something being shouted across cable-news panels.It's an eligibility ...