The soap opera that is the WNBA just keeps getting more dramatic.
Over the weekend, former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom – who declared for the 2027 WNBA draft in the wake of the controversy surrounding Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s comments about protecting women’s sports – was removed from the stands of a game between the Fever and Chicago Sky after he was confronted by a Sky player.
And then there was the baffling news that one of the league’s newest franchises introduced a “non-binary” mascot ahead of its matchup against Cunningham and the Fever last week.
The ‘Non-Binary’ Mascot
The Toronto Tempo is in the midst of its inaugural season in the WNBA, and the team is already making headlines – not for its play, but for its role in the sport’s burgeoning culture war.
The team just revealed Dez, a butch, non-binary Borealis Blue Snapping Turtle who uses she/they pronouns and apparently “has a fondness for soft shell tacos” and “ASMR videos.” In case you were wondering, Dez is also a Virgo, as per the team’s official announcement.
Dez has a partner in crime named Dot, who is an anthropomorphic arctic hare and uses standard she/her pronouns. According to social media posts, Dez and Dot have “a fabled friendship balancing patience and play, rhythm and hype.”
Notably, the Tempo debuted the gender fluid turtle during its home game against Cunningham and the Fever last Tuesday.
This is not the first time Toronto has made headlines this season. Last month, head coach Sandy Brondello was suspended for one game without pay after she was caught on camera complaining to referees that Atlanta forward Angel Reese, who is black, was a “protected species” after a foul call.
In Australia, where Brondello is from, “protected species” is a commonly used idiom to refer to those who are perceived to get preferential treatment or favorable calls and is not racial. Even so, the two-time WNBA championship winning coach apologized and served the suspension.
The Actual Issue
While Fever head coach Stephanie White tries to shame the media for asking her questions about the Kanter Freedom incident during the game against the Sky or other headlines involving Cunningham or star Caitlin Clark, Megyn said the league has turned itself into a sideshow.
“It’s hard to focus on the sport when, last week, the Toronto Tempo pulled [this] stunt,” she said on Monday’s Megyn Kelly Show. “The business with the turtle is really just such a middle finger to everybody.”
It also, in Megyn’s view, undermines any arguments against Kanter Freedom and fellow NBA alum Royce White declaring for the WNBA draft. “We heard you. You don’t care if the players are actual females. You stand with everybody… [including] Dez. Okay, we get it. Now, if it’s true, let these two guys actually play… Draft them onto one of your teams. If they’re so ‘pro’ allowing this to happen, gender doesn’t matter… Why won’t they let Enes and… Royce White play in the WNBA,” she asked.
Megyn’s guest, The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, said the WNBA can’t do that because, despite all of the claims of inclusivity, the league knows the truth. “The fact is, the WNBA knows at a very basic level that men and women are different… They understand the reason for the league’s existence, but their audience doesn’t want to admit it. A lot of their players don’t want to admit it,” he noted.
“They have intrinsically, I guess, as a sort of feminist project, embraced the woke ideology and what the woke ideology says… [is] not that they’re really laboring under the delusion that men can become women. What they’re really arguing is that it is better to lie. That if we lie about men becoming women, if we lie about sports… that will make people happier; that will be better for certain people,” Knowles explained. “You don’t need to convince them that Enes Kanter Freedom isn’t a woman. They just are angry that Enes Kanter Freedom won’t lie, and they’re angry that the rest of us won’t lie as well.”
Contrary to the framing of this controversy as an inclusivity issue, Knowles said it is actually about justice – and that is the only reason he cares. “When the left comes to us then and says, ‘Well, you guys don’t even like women’s sports,’ my answer is, ‘You’re right. I don’t like women’s sports. I don’t care about it’… The reason I care about this issue has nothing to do with women’s sports… The reason I care about this issue is justice,” he shared.
“That is what I think is so offensive to normal people. It is wrong for giant dudes to beat up women in sports. It’s wrong for them to take their trophies and their scholarships,” Knowles continued. “We just know it’s unjust. It preys upon vulnerable women, and so that is the reason we don’t want it. And they have no answer to that.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Knowles by tuning in to episode 1,384 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.