Enes Kanter Freedom Claims He Wants to be WNBA Commissioner and Make League ‘FEMALE AGAIN’

Kathianne BonielloSep 4th, 2026, 1:48 pm

Inset: Enes Kanter Freedom (Screenshot); Cathy Engelbert (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

WNBA troll Enes Kanter Freedom jumped on the news that league commissioner Cathy Engelbert is retiring at the end of the season — pledging to do the job himself and “restore fairness for all women.”

Freedom, a former NBA player, posted a video on X proclaiming himself a candidate for the job and claimed Engelbert’s exit is a “win for women.”

“MAKE @WNBA FEMALE AGAIN Commissioner Freedom Has a Nice Ring to It. While the reported retirement of #WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is a win for women and an admission that the league’s rules must change, her retirement does not solve the systemic issues which must be addressed in order to protect women’s sports. If the WNBA is unable to define what a woman is, then I, Enes Kanter Freedom, would be more than happy to step in as commissioner and lead this league back to greatness and restore fairness for all women. I’ll bring common sense. I’ll bring fairness. And yes, I’ll bring a dictionary,” he said.

Commissioner Freedom Has a Nice Ring to It.

While the reported retirement of #WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is a win for women and an admission that the league’s rules must change, her retirement does not solve the systemic issues which must be…

Engelbert, 61, has faced criticism from players, most notably Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx, who claimed the commissioner was “negligent” and represented the “worst leadership in the world.”

Engelbert, who took the job in May 2019, issued a statement to ESPN:

Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports. I retire knowing we have built something bigger, stronger and more enduring than we could have imagined. I am grateful to the WNBA and NBA team owners and staff, players, investors, fans and the powerhouse league office staff, who believed in what this league could become. I retire with immense gratitude and tremendous optimism for the future of the WNBA, with the best yet to come.

Freedom has said he will declare for the WNBA draft as a trans woman and was recently booted from the sidelines of a WNBA game after a confrontation with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud.