Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom, who says he has declared for the 2027 WNBA Draft, has offered a conciliatory message to the league, calling for a “peace summit” as controversy continues to swirl around his stance on transgender athlete participation.
Freedom ignited a fresh backlash when he announced his plan to enter the WNBA Draft, framing the move as a challenge to the league’s transgender athlete policy, which had already come under renewed scrutiny following remarks by Sophie Cunningham.
The situation escalated further at a recent Fever-Sky matchup, where Freedom appeared in the crowd and became involved in a heated exchange with one of the players on the floor.
He was quickly removed from the arena, then later appeared on Fox News to give his side of the incident, while several WNBA figures publicly criticized his conduct.
Now, Freedom appears to be trying to lower the temperature. In a social media post Monday, he addressed WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert directly and called for dialogue.
On X, he wrote: ‘WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the @WNBA task force, I am now speaking directly to you.
Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom – who has declared for the 2027 WNBA Draft – has extended an olive branch to the league and called for a ‘peace summit’ amid the ongoing drama
Freedom was recently ejected from a WNBA game after clashing with Chicago Sky star Natasha Cloud while he was sat courtside wearing a t-shirt that defined what a woman is
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been under growing pressure amid the saga
‘I’m going to keep this short and sweet, so open your ears and listen carefully. I would like to offer you a peace summit, moderated by my friend @Caitlyn_Jenner. I’ve already spoken with her, and she’s in.
‘I’m not a troublemaker. I’m more of a peacemaker. Listen, the whole world is laughing at you. You have turned the #WNBA into a laughingstock.
‘It’s time to stop hiding behind closed-door meetings, excuses, and delays and finally give the public a clear answer.
‘Let’s have the peace summit. No shouting. No hiding. No carefully scripted statements.
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‘Let’s sit across the table from each other, have an open and respectful conversation, and address the questions millions of people are asking.
‘Let’s put everything on the table and let the public hear both sides. If you truly believe in your position, you should have no problem defending it publicly.
‘So, Commissioner Engelbert and the WNBA task force, the invitation is officially on the table. Name the time. Name the place. Let’s talk. Are you in?’.
Jenner, a former men’s Olympic gold medalist and transgender woman, recently waded in by taking aim at the WNBA’s ‘hypocrisy’ over trans controversy.
Freedom took to social media on Monday to call for a ‘peace summit’ with WNBA chiefs
Freedom claims that Caitlyn Jenner – who recently weighed in on the transgender athlete controversy engulfing the WNBA – has already agreed to take part in the ‘peace summit’
‘XX are in, XY are out. It’s that simple,’ Jenner told Fox News this month. ‘And I think they’re doing a good job just to show the WNBA how…the hypocrisy is going on here.
‘We have to protect women’s sports. I’ve been coming on this show for years and years. I want to protect women’s sports.’
Jenner gained fame as a US sporting hero when, then as Bruce Jenner, she won the gold medal in decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
She came out as transgender and transitioned in 2015, yet has since supported calls to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.
The WNBA has been engulfed by controversy over transgender athletes in recent weeks, after Indiana Fever star Cunningham said she wants to ‘protect young girls’ from ‘biological men.’
Since those comments, Freedom and fellow former NBA star Royce White have both claimed that they have formally declared for next year’s WNBA Draft.