"Disrespectful Stunt": Ex-NBA stars under fire after Caitlin Clark claim and brutal Angel Reese warning

What began as another argument over transgender participation in women’s sports has now pulled several former NBA players into a fight over the WNBA , and Patrick Beverley believes the conversation has gone badly off course.

Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have both said they intend to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft as a challenge to the league’s eligibility rules. Their declarations followed renewed debate around the issue, including comments from Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham .

Beverley , who has frequently spoken positively about women’s basketball, has little patience for the way the two former players are making their point.

“Enes Kanter, Royce White, I don't like what y'all are doing at all,” Beverley said on The Pat Bev Show. “I think y'all disrespecting the brand that showed y'all a lot of respect. I think y'all disrespecting the game of basketball, period.”

His criticism was particularly pointed toward Kanter Freedom , who spent more than a decade in the NBA.

“You've made a name for being in the NBA, and you gonna come in here and say you want to try out for the WNBA?” Beverley added. “I understand the point y'all are trying to make. What y'all doing, it ain't right.”

Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese pulled into campaign

Kanter Freedom has made some of the loudest comments surrounding the planned draft effort. He recently said he would like to join Caitlin Clark with the Indiana Fever , imagining the pair as a new version of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal .

“Think about this… We're going down the lane, Caitlin throws me a lob and I cut the lob and dunk the ball,” Kanter Freedom said. “Then me and Caitlin bump chests… which I'm allowed to do now, because I'm a woman.”

He later turned his attention toward Angel Reese , writing on X: “Sis! Once I go No.1 pick in the 2027 @WNBA Draft, the first player I'm dunking on is Angel Reese.”

The WNBA collective bargaining agreement says only women are eligible to play, while the supplied material notes that the language doesn't set out a more detailed definition there.

The league has characterized the former players’ campaign as a “bad-faith” effort.

Message does not justify the method

Beverley didn't spend his criticism debating the underlying policy. His objection centered on using the league and its players as the vehicle for a stunt.

“Regardless of what message y'all trying to get out there, bro, there's a way to do it,” Beverley said. “It's a hundred ways to skin a cat.”

Kanter Freedom has rejected the suggestion that he is trying to ridicule the WNBA.

“I'm not here to mock, make fun of, or disrespect any group or personal decisions,” he said. “I don't want this whole thing to turn into a laughing stock. I want people to take our message seriously.”

That defense hasn't changed Beverley ’s view. The 2027 WNBA draft remains months away, but the controversy has already become bigger than any realistic basketball outcome.