Ex-NBA player Charles Barkley says he opposes trans women in WNBA
Charles Barkley (Getty Images)
Former NBA star and sports commentator Charles Barkley has entered the debate over transgender athletes in the WNBA, saying he does not believe trans women should compete in the league.
Speaking to radio host Michael Smerconish on Monday (24 August), Barkley, who has previously supported the LGBTQ community, defended Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who recently criticised the participation of trans women and girls in women’s sports.
“I got nothing but love and respect for gay people and transgender people, but under no circumstances do I think men should play against women. Zero,” Barkley said. He also criticised NBA commissioner Adam Silver and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not taking a definitive position against transgender players.
There are currently no known transgender women playing in the WNBA.
The league has had one known openly trans and nonbinary player, Layshia Clarendon, who retired in 2024. However, Clarendon was assigned female at birth.
The controversy escalated after former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, who are both cisgender men, announced that they considered themselves eligible for the WNBA’s 2027 draft, pointing to the league’s eligibility rules, which do not explicitly address gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Critics have accused the pair of making themselves the centre of a debate that was ostensibly supposed to be about trans athletes.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said the league is treating the issue as a “complex and nuanced topic”, with a task force of team presidents and general managers set to examine transgender inclusion.
Barkley argued that the league should simply rule out transgender participation and move on, saying he was concerned the controversy was overshadowing the WNBA’s accomplishments.
Trans athletes and their advocates have pushed back on the idea that excluding them is necessary to “protect women’s sports”, pointing instead to the much broader challenges facing women and girls in athletics, such as unequal funding, discrimination and sexual abuse.
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