‘Positive masculinity’ is one of those phrases that usually makes me dry-heave, alongside ‘mental-health awareness’ and ‘sourdough’. But basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom has shown precisely this, using the physical advantages he enjoys as a 6’10” man for the good of others.

The 34-year-old has now taken a giant step into the fray, backing female players at risk of serious injury, or being elbowed out of the game altogether, by WNBA rules that leave the door open to male players who identify as women.

On Friday, he announced, with a deadpan solemnity: ‘After careful consideration and reviewing the current eligibility guidelines, I’m officially declaring myself a WNBA prospect’, claiming that he meets ‘every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA’. ‘My team and I have carefully examined the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and governing framework surrounding self-identification and inclusion… Based on the current guidelines, I can and am officially declaring my eligibility for the upcoming WNBA draft in April 2027.’

Later the same day, another former NBA player, Royce White, joined Freedom. He told Fox News: ‘I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as a woman for the purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well.’ In a later interview, White took the trolling a step further: ‘Right now I’m just having a blast in my feminine era… I think it’s only fair I get a chance to play with some of my queens in the twilight of my career.’

Feminist groups such as WoLF and WDI in the US have spent years drawing attention to the dangers, and indeed the misogyny, of allowing men to identify into women’s sports, spaces and services. But pissed-off women don’t have the cultural clout of male sporting stars, whose intervention can turn a long-running feminist battle into headline news overnight.

This isn’t the first time a sporting man has used humour to expose the absurdity of self-ID. In 2019, British commentator and fitness influencer Zuby filmed himself deadlifting 238kg, more than the then British women’s record, before announcing: ‘PS I identified as a woman while lifting the weight. Don’t be a bigot.’ The joke went viral and, for a moment, it seemed like the trans madness had broken. And then, just two years later, male weightlifter Laurel Hubbard was allowed to compete against women at the Tokyo Olympic Games, thanks to a change to the rules in 2015.

The announcements by Freedom and White come weeks after WNBA star Sophie Cunningham spoke up for women-only sport. Though she attracted both praise and criticism outside the game, Cunningham has found few allies among her fellow players. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve publicly rejected her position, wearing a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ t-shirt, while former Fever player Sydney Colson mocked her stance with a post declaring: ‘I love a trans foul.’ The players’ union has meanwhile stressed its commitment to ‘justice, equity, diversity and inclusion’, condemned the ‘demonisation’ of transgender people and insisted it would not be used as a ‘political pawn’.

Interestingly, Cunningham’s comments don’t appear to have frightened off either sponsors or customers. Adidas released her first player-exclusive trainers (aka ‘sneakers’ to our American cousins) in July. They sold out on the company’s US website in less than an hour.

There is another reason Freedom and White can afford to take the shot. Both are beyond the reach of the usual sporting sanctions. White’s NBA career consisted of just three games more than a decade ago; Freedom played 11 seasons but has not appeared in the NBA since 2022. There are no contracts to cancel, team places to lose or coaches to appease. That makes their intervention easier, certainly, but no less brave. It also raises the less amusing question of why speaking such an obvious truth should require career immunity in the first place.

Freedom, in particular, has a history of facing up to bullies. Born in Switzerland and raised in Turkey, he became an outspoken critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, prompting the Turkish administration to cancel his passport and issue warrants for his arrest. He was left effectively stateless, received death threats and was detained at a Romanian airport, while his father was arrested. Clearly, Freedom is not a man to be scared into silence by greasy-haired nerds who fantasise that their moobs are breasts.

Yet Freedom didn’t need to weigh in on the side of women. Nor did White. Neither man has anything personally to lose if the WNBA decides that the ‘W’ stands for whatever anyone wants it to. It is both heartening and depressing that while Cunningham’s female colleagues have largely kept their heads below the hoops, it has taken two enormous former NBA players to lumber over and stand beside her.

Perhaps this is ‘positive masculinity’ after all: men using their advantages not to muscle into women’s spaces, but to make damn sure other men can’t either.