At the outset, it’s getting exhausting having to write about these things again, but alas, here we are.
In 1991, feminist journalist Susan Faludi wrote a book entitled Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, where she contended that when women achieve social, political and cultural progress, a vicious backlash follows, usually manifesting from a sub-section of men who feel genuinely threatened by accomplished women.
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This is by no means an unfamiliar phenomenon.
All four waves of feminism that brought major advances (the right to vote, reproductive rights, women ascending to leadership, #MeToo, etc.) were met with a full-throated effort to reverse them, whether through the political processes, acts of violence or online misogyny.
Now, that same dynamic has developed due to the soaring popularity of the WNBA in its 30th season.
High ratings, packed arenas, endorsement deals, investment in franchises and a landmark CBA agreement prove that women’s professional basketball has made it. For most, it’s an exciting time. For some, it constitutes a perceived threat to world order—and it must be stopped in its tracks.
The New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and Los Angeles Sparks’ Nneka Ogwumike compete in jerseys commemorating the WNBA’s 30-year celebration.
| Getty Images
Faludi’s prophecy has come back to life.
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The latest iteration of the backlash pathology has arrived in the form of former NBA players Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom “declaring” for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
Kanter Freedom kicked things off last Friday, releasing a statement and video where he declared himself a woman and announced his interest in the draft while wearing an orange WNBA hoodie. White, a candidate for the US Senate in Minnesota, took to X/Twitter and posted an AI-generated image of him with long hair declaring his interest in playing for either the Minnesota Lynx or the Indiana Fever.
Their attention-seeking antics come amid the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports, sparked within the WNBA by the Fever’s Sophie Cunningham, who made comments supporting the exclusion of transgender female athletes in women’s sports. Shortly thereafter, Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeves wore a shirt reading “Trans Kids Belong” during a game against the Fever on Aug. 2.
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wears a shirt supporting trans youth. | Star Tribune via Getty Images
White made the rounds on Fox News over the weekend.
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He and Kanter Freedom have framed their stunt as a protest against the participation of transgender women athletes in the league, but anyone with a clear sense of decency and maturity knows what this is all about: These are two mediocre men who can’t stand the fact that women are crushing the sport they played and are objectively better than them.
Kanter-Freedom had a few productive seasons in the NBA, but didn’t win any accolades or championships. White, on the other hand, is a smorgasbord of trouble.
He only played three games and nine minutes in the 2013-14 season. He was a liability because he would argue with the Houston Rockets, the team that drafted him in 2012, over mental health concerns and travel accommodations. At one point, White was seen as doing the right thing by compelling the NBA to tackle mental health, but then he became the NBA’s Kanye West, whose unpredictability not only harmed him but also others.
In February 2026, his ex-wife and teenage son filed for a restraining order against him, forcing him to stay a quarter-mile away from them due to credible allegations of domestic violence. The restraining order was granted in April. White has denied the charges and is appealing the decision. White also has been in trouble with the courts after failing to pay child support.
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The truth is this is not about transgender athletes, which isn’t an issue anyway; it’s just insecure men trying to deny their insecurity.
Fortunately, there is a generation of men and boys coming of age during this period who are genuinely interested in women’s sports. They wear the jerseys of their favorite WNBA players, go to games, celebrate their achievements and seek out their autographs in the same way they do for their favorite male athletes.
The Portland Fire’s Serah WIlliams signs an autograph for a young fan.
| NBAE via Getty Images
This development alone provides hope that these boys will grow up to be allies to women and girls, giving women’s sports the respect it has long been denied and is now beginning to reap.
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And yet, today many grown men, Kanter Freedom and White among them, still find doing that a problem, which says much about them.
Real men have emotional security. Real men take joy in seeing women’s basketball and sports thrive. Real men don’t abuse. Real men are fully human.
