President Donald Trump stated he would provide previous NBA gamers Enes Kanter Freedom and Dennis Rodman a “complete pardon” to play in females’s sports throughout a rally in Oklahoma.
< source media ="(min-width:768px)" alt ="Donald Trump said he would give Enes Kanter Freedom and Dennis Rodman a “full pardon” to pursue a WNBA career, though his eligibility remains unchanged. (Dennis Rodman /Instagram, Enes Kanter Freedom/instagram)" > < img src ="https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-img/img/2026/10/03/400x225/Enes_kanter_and_Denis_rodman_1790988162778_7m87_1790988162992_6lK2_b7dc6331-ef10-4437-9294-581542320198_p6Dp.png"alt ="Donald Trump said he would give Enes Kanter Freedom and Dennis Rodman a “full pardon” to pursue a WNBA career, though his eligibility remains unchanged. (Dennis Rodman /Instagram, Enes Kanter Freedom/instagram)"title ="Donald Trump said he would give Enes Kanter Freedom and Dennis Rodman a “full pardon” to pursue a WNBA career, though his eligibility remains unchanged. (Dennis Rodman /Instagram, Enes Kanter Freedom/instagram)"width ="360"height ="202"loading ="eager">Trump made the remark Thursday night as he discussed the argument around transgender professional athletes and ladies’s sports. Kanter Freedom had actually revealed in August that he prepared to get in the 2027 WNBA Draft.
League sources later on informed The Associated Press and Reuters that Kanter Freedom was not qualified for the draft. Trump’s remark for that reason does not suggest he has actually been cleared to play in the WNBA.
What Donald Trump stated about Enes Kanter Freedom?
Trump made the remarks at a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, where Kanter Freedom and Rodman existed. He stated the 2 previous NBA gamers had an “exemption” which he was providing a pardon to go into females’s sports.
“So [Rodman and Kanter Freedom]they are excellent and they have an exemption. I’m providing a complete pardon that they can enter into females’s sports anytime they desire,” Trump stated, according to Mediaite.
He then stated he anticipated them to “break every record in the history of females’s sports.”
Trump’s remark had to do with their involvement in ladies’s sports, however a governmental pardon does not itself discourage Enes Kanter Freedom stated for 2027 WNBA Draftmine who can go into or play in an expert sports league.
The WNBA and its gamers’ union run under league guidelines and a cumulative bargaining contract.
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Enes Kanter Freedom stated for 2027 WNBA Draft
Kanter Freedom revealed in August that he planned to go into the 2027 WNBA Draft. In a post on X, he stated he had actually examined the WNBA’s eligibility standards with his group and thought he fulfilled the requirements.
“After mindful factor to consider and evaluating the present eligibility standards, I’m formally stating myself a WNBA possibility,” Kanter Freedom composed. “If merely stating who you are is all that’s needed, then I satisfy each and every single requirement needed to contend in the WNBA.”
He later on officially sent his statement for the draft.
The statement came throughout a larger public argument about transgender professional athletes in females’s sports. Kanter Freedom stated his relocation had to do with how the WNBA uses its eligibility guidelines.
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WNBA eligibility amidst Trump’s declaration
There is a crucial difference in between Trump’s remarks and Kanter Freedom’s real WNBA status.
On August 24, The Associated Press reported that Kanter Freedom and previous NBA gamer Royce White were not qualified for the 2027 WNBA Draft, pointing out an individual acquainted with the choice.
Reuters likewise reported that league sources stated the 2 were not qualified. Neither report stated that Trump’s remarks had actually altered that status.
The WNBA’s 2026 season schedule reveals that the league’s draft and gamer eligibility are managed through its recognized league procedure. The WNBPA likewise releases the cumulative bargaining contract, that includes a particular area on gamer eligibility and the WNBA Draft.
Trump has actually now made his remarks, however Kanter Freedom’s reported WNBA eligibility is still the same.