{"id":45777,"date":"2026-08-15T03:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45777"},"modified":"2026-08-15T03:18:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T22:18:29","slug":"geno-auriemma-calls-wnba-transgender-athlete-debate-manufactured","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=45777","title":{"rendered":"Geno Auriemma calls WNBA transgender athlete debate \u2018manufactured\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/05\/04\/UConn_Auriemma_Basketball__251_s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>UConn women\u2019s basketball coach Geno Auriemma downplayed the transgender athlete debate roiling the WNBA, arguing the controversy has been overblown by people seeking personal gain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are we making a big issue over an issue that doesn\u2019t exist?\u201d Auriemma <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/2026\/08\/14\/geno-auriemma-talks-wnba-trans-issue\/\">told TMZ Sports<\/a> this week. He said he was unaware of any transgender players currently in the league and argued attention should instead go to the WNBA\u2019s rising young talent and competitive teams. Some people, he said, are stoking the issue \u201cfor their own personal gain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The debate has consumed the league since Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/49538591\/amid-tension-cunningham-says-wants-get-back-basketball\">July ESPN feature<\/a> that young girls \u201cshouldn\u2019t have to go against biological men\u201d in sports. Her comments drew national attention, including from the White House, and triggered weeks of backlash and support across the league.<\/p>\n<p>That controversy intensified this month when former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/enes-kanter-officially-declares-2027-203047295.html\">declared<\/a> themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft, arguing the league\u2019s collective bargaining agreement \u2014 which states \u201conly players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA\u201d but does not define the term further \u2014 should apply to them under self-identification.<\/p>\n<p>WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert responded with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/49561324\/engelbert-wnba-continue-transgender-discussion\">memo to teams<\/a>, writing that the topic is \u201ccomplex and nuanced\u201d and that the league would continue talks with the players\u2019 union. The WNBA separately said it embraces diversity and inclusion but would \u201cnot be used as political pawns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four WNBA head coaches have weighed in publicly, with Minnesota\u2019s Cheryl Reeve and Golden State\u2019s Natalie Nakase voicing support for including transgender athletes in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The scale of the issue nationally remains small. NCAA President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/show\/what-science-tells-us-about-transgender-athletes\">December 2024 testimony<\/a> that he was aware of fewer than 10 transgender athletes among more than 500,000 NCAA student-athletes.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<div>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          This article was constructed with the assistance of artificial intelligence and published by a member of The Washington Times&#8217; AI News Desk team. The contents of this report are based solely on The Washington Times&#8217; original reporting, wire services, and\/or other sources cited within the report. For more information, please read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/ai-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">AI policy<\/a> or contact Steve Fink, Director of Artificial Intelligence, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/14\/geno-auriemma-calls-wnba-transgender-athlete-debate-manufactured\/mailto:sfink@washingtontimes.com\">sfink@washingtontimes.com<\/a><br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 18px; color: #3e3e3e;\"><em><br \/>\n                          The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2026\/aug\/14\/geno-auriemma-calls-wnba-transgender-athlete-debate-manufactured\/mailto:aispotlight@washingtontimes.com\">aispotlight@washingtontimes.com<\/a>.<br \/>\n                      <\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UConn women\u2019s basketball coach Geno Auriemma downplayed the transgender athlete debate roiling the WNBA, arguing the controversy has been overblown by people seeking personal gain. \u201cWhy are we making a big issue over an issue that doesn\u2019t exist?\u201d Auriemma told TMZ Sports this week. He said he was unaware of any transgender players currently in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45778,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/05\/04\/UConn_Auriemma_Basketball__251_c0-149-3567-2229_s1200x700.jpg?2079ec837ad3de5c02c85ce23fd92dbcaf42178a","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}