Pressure is mounting for the WNBA and NBA to get their arms around the transgender eligibility mess hanging over the league.
On Tuesday, OutKick asked Phoenix Mercury coach whether he agreed with Charles Barkleys assessment that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is failing to get ahead of the controversy.
“Yeah, Im going to leave that to the league office,” Tibbetts said. “Thats their job.”
OutKick reached out to both the WNBA and NBA for comment on Engelberts continued silence and Barkleys critique. Both leagues remained silent.
By keeping the door open on the eligibility debate, the WNBA and NBA leave their players and coaches to absorb the heat. Tibbetts has previously explained why that burden is unfair.
Earlier this month, while defending Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White amid backlash over her handling of the DiJonai Carrington-Sophie Cunningham incident, Tibbetts said it “really pâ-s me off.”
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“Its disappointing,” Tibbetts said. “Some of the things that Steph has to go through, thats wrong. Theres no other coach in any professional sport that has to go through the stuff that she does. Its not fair. Shes hired to coach basketball.”
Coaches are hired to coach basketball, not answer for a commissioners refusal to define the leagues own eligibility standard.
Engelberts silence does not make the issue disappear. It guarantees the next player or coach asked about it after a game will be left answering for an absent commissioner.
Cunningham and coaches across the league have faced questions about competitive fairness and roster integrity. That is a burden for league leadership to carry, not for people trying to win basketball games.
While Engelbert has complained about the WNBA being used as a “political football,” the leagues refusal to set a clear standard is why the fight keeps playing out in public, inside arenas, and at postgame podiums.
League officials have held meetings on the eligibility issue, yet the WNBA still has not adopted a clear standard, leaving its existing ambiguity intact and a path open for transgender inclusion.
Its Collective Bargaining Agreement says “only players who are women are eligible,” but never defines who qualifies as a woman under the policy.
That gap has helped turn eligibility into a recurring controversy, including WNBA draft declarations from former NBA players <a href="https://foxnews.com/outkick-sports/wnba-reportedly-says-enes-kanter-freedom-roy
