The WNBA is currently in a delicate spot with discourse over whether or not trans women should be eligible for the league’s draft.
This began with Sophie Cunningham voicing her opinion on the subject, and with Stephanie White being routinely questioned about her Fever player’s views. Nate Tibbetts doesn’t seem to like this one bit.
Nate Tibbetts Does Not Like What Stephanie White Has to Go Through with the Media
Cunningham, revealing her stance on trans athletes competing in women’s sports, sparked a media circus for the Indiana Fever.
Caught in the middle of it was Coach White. She’s been repeatedly hounded over the past few weeks for her take on this subject. The Phoenix Mercury’s HC has seen enough of it.
“We make it about basketball, but some of the things that Steph has to go through- that’s wrong. There’s no other coach in any professional sport that has to go through the stuff that she does and, I think of her a lot,” said Nate.
He called her treatment ‘unfair’ before claiming it “pisses” him off.
According to Nate, the media is supposed to ask questions pertaining to the WNBA hardwood and nothing beyond that. Coaches like Stephanie are hired to make sure their teams play basketball the right way, not to delve into political stances every other day.
Before going off about how White’s been treated recently, Tibbetts felt an overarching sense of dread about the subject.
“It’s disappointing. This is a great league. We’ve got great players. There are great stories, great rookies, great teams. We just spend so much time talking about the wrong stuff, and I don’t know why that happens in our league. I don’t know who can help change the narrative.”
Tibbetts admitted that it’s “not fun” for anybody in the league to answer such questions.
Luckily for media members, White did give them her take on this discourse a couple of weeks ago. She said, “I wouldn’t say I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint, but I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer.”
The WNBA hasn’t released any substantive guidelines regarding who is eligible to play in the league and who isn’t. Multiple organizations, such as the WTA and UCI, have tackled these issues in their own ways.
Most leagues have barred any person who was assigned ‘male’ at birth from participating in any women’s sporting event.
The WNBA can be a pioneering force in developing eligibility criteria that don’t result in the mass exclusion of a marginalized group.
En route to this, however, Tibbetts’ words must ring true across the media landscape. Pestering coaches and players about sensitive topics like this will only detract from the brilliant product being put on the court night in and night out.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.