Former NBA big man Enes Kanter Freedom, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound wrecking ball who once dominated the paint for the Thunder, Celtics, and Blazers, has officially thrown his name into the hat for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
Yes, you read that right. The men’s league alum looked at the current eligibility rules, nodded, and said, “I meet every requirement necessary.”In a statement that hit the internet like a brick, Freedom explained that he and his team carefully reviewed the WNBA’s guidelines around self-identification and inclusion. Based on those guidelines, he’s declaring himself eligible for next year’s draft. “Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027,” he said.
This comes right on the heels of some WNBA coaches and players publicly supporting the idea of men competing in women’s sports. Freedom took that energy, ran with it, and decided to test the system himself. No soft landing, no carefully worded press release about “dialogue.” Just a 250-pound former NBA center saying the quiet part out loud.
Let’s be clear: this is not some random guy off the street. This is a guy who spent years battling for boards against the best bigs in the world. The idea of him dropping into a WNBA frontcourt is the kind of mental image that makes you laugh until you realize he’s not entirely joking.
Freedom framed it as a matter of consistency. If the rules allow self-identification and the league has been hearing support for broader inclusion, then he figures he checks the boxes. Whether the WNBA actually plans to honor that interpretation is another story entirely. The league’s official language still says only women are eligible, but the cultural conversation around identity has made that line a lot blurrier than it used to be.
The timing is perfect in the most chaotic way possible. The WNBA has been riding a wave of mainstream attention. Now one of the loudest, most opinionated former NBA players just walked up to the mic and asked the most uncomfortable question in the room: if the rules are about self-ID and inclusion, where exactly does that stop?
Vidmax's official position is that this is the greatest thing to happen to the WNBA since the last time someone tried to dunk on Angel Reese in a dream sequence. Whether Freedom ever actually steps on a WNBA court is almost beside the point. He just forced every single person involved in the conversation to look at the rules they’ve been defending and ask if they actually mean what they say.
See you at training camp, big fella. Bring the drop step.
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A note on comments: Our advertisers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy on racism, hate speech, and threats of violence. Any comment that crosses that line will be removed and the account permanently banned — no warnings. Debate hard, but keep it civil.