Memphis star Jaren Jackson Jr. voices his support for WNBA amid pranks over transgender debate

Even though the WNBA has been a target for pranks in the past months, as even former NBA players joke about becoming women to dominate the competition, the league has been growing into a more succesful platform every season. Not only are games averaging 548,000 viewers according to ESPN, they are up 46% since 2022.

Grizzlies star Jaren Jackson Jr. is noticing this, as he’s voiced his support on the women’s league, explaining why their growth is exciting. During a Summer League match last month, the All-Star expressed his opinion about the WNBA.

“The W[NBA] is doing so well right now,” he said. “We’ll continue to push everything on the league side for us. Now that I’m on the PA [NBPA], there’s just a lot of things I can do, a lot of things I can be a part of. Just showing up is so important, especially when it’s All-Star weekend, it’s lit, it’s in Vegas. Go ahead and have fun, I’m with it.”

Take a look at the full interview as the 23-year-old was attending both the men’s and women’s summer action in Las Vegas:

Just last month, YouTube prankster JiDion, who has more than eight million followers on his personal channel, posted a 15-minute video of him pretending to take a nap during a WNBA contest. He was of course trying to make a point that women’s basketball is boring, and targeted the Los Angeles Sparks, who had been underperforming this season.

The Twitch sensation was then led up the stairs and taken outside of the stadium where police took photos of him saying that he wouldn’t be permitted to return to a basketball match. JiDion then asked if he’s “only banned from WNBA games,” to what the guard specifies that he’s banned from “all NBA-related events.”

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom joked about changing his name to “Enisha” and dominate the women’s league

The transgender debate has reached almost ridiculous lengths as people are willing to go to the extremes just to prove a point. One of the latest to fuel this discussion was former Celtics player Enes Kanter Freedom, who has banned from the NBA last year for speaking against China, and now has become a social and political activist.

He asked whether he should “put on a wig, identify as a woman and start dominating the WNBA?”

I’m identifying myself as a woman! Lol

From now on y’all can call me
ENISHA Freedom.
I’m 7 foot and 270 pounds biological male who wants to compete in women sports. 🤦🏻‍♂️

Hey @WNBA, are you hiring? pic.twitter.com/vpBgLHS6jR

— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) August 15, 2023

After recieving a lot of backlash on social media due to his proposal, he then took it to Twitter again to further explain his views on the matter. “If you read my tweet, I pretty much said it. Biological males don’t belong in women’s spaces. I’m talking about restrooms. I’m talking about shower rooms. I’m talking about locker rooms, I’m talking about sports pretty much,” he expressed.

“I’m just in shock this even is a debate. There are many cases out there in restrooms, in locker rooms. Females are very uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. I believe it was in Virginia there was one case. It was a rape case, I believe,” Enes added.