Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom declared for the Women’s National Basketball Association draft under the league’s unclear eligibility rules, but readers of Apple News likely wouldn’t know it since the news aggregator didn’t share a single headline in its morning feed covering the so-called women's sport group’s recent “transgender” controversies.
The tech titans’ overt bias presents not just an obvious preference for leftist media outlets but also a more insidious bias via omission. The complete lack of coverage belies the cultural upheaval surrounding the WNBA.
Since Indiana Fever Guard and social media lightning rod Sophie Cunningham explained her “common sense” position on preventing biological men from competing in women’s sports through this past weekend when Freedom was ejected from a WNBA game, Apple News headlines have failed to cover the “transgender” issue.
Apple News has not been shy when it comes to promoting sports stories, however. Since MRC began tracking on Nov. 3, 2025, the leftist news aggregator has pushed hundreds of stories from sports-focused outlets, including: 255 from The New York Times’s The Athletic, 45 from ESPN, 12 from Yahoo Sports. That’s not to mention the dozens of stories from NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today’s sports pages.
The current WNBA collective bargaining agreement eligibility rules state that “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but the rules do not provide any qualifications for the now-viral question, “What is a woman?”
In early August, Freedom and fellow NBA alum Royce White declared themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft. On August 23, Freedom was ejected from a WNBA game after Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud instigated a confrontation with him. Freedom was wearing a shirt to the game that simply provided a clear definition of a woman as an “adult female human.” Front Office Sports reported Aug. 24 that Freedom and White were ineligible to play in the WNBA, according to unnamed league sources, but Freedom has disputed such reports.
Between July 22 and Aug. 24, Apple News featured a total of 643 AllSides-rated stories among its featured morning headlines. Of those stories, 17 were from The New York Times’s The Athletic and five came from ESPN. And while Apple News featured three stories about the WNBA, none of those stories’s headlines featured the WNBA’s “transgender” controversy:
- “The WNBA’s business is thriving. So why can’t Cathy Engelbert escape criticism?,” by The New York Times’s The Athletic, promoted on July 26.
- “Sky’s DiJonai Carrington cites White privilege after ejection for flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham,” by The New York Times’s The Athletic, promoted on Aug. 9.
- “Lynx veteran Kayla McBride sinks WNBA single-game record 10 3-pointers: ‘I love this game,’” by The New York Times’s The Athletic, promoted on Aug. 10.
Freedom is not the only one who has been treated poorly for wearing a shirt supporting women in women’s sports. Several fans at different WNBA games were similarly treated poorly because of their pro-women “XX-XY Athletics” clothing, and for holding signs supporting Cunningham for speaking out against men in women’s sports. The Alliance Defending Freedom sent a letter to the WNBA regarding the treatment of those fans. Apple News did not feature stories about the letter, or about Freedom’s ejection.
Apple News could have featured any number of stories from right-leaning outlets covering the WNBA’s “transgender” controversy, including NBA players’ attempts to join the WNBA, but it completely ignored them. Such stories include:
- “Leaked memo reveals WNBA chief's plans on transgender athletes in wake of Sophie Cunningham storm and ex-NBA stars declaring for draft,” by Daily Mail, Aug. 9.
- “Enes Kanter officially declares for 2027 WNBA Draft amid ‘trans’ controversy,” by the New York Post, Aug. 10.
- “‘Y’all Can Call Me Enisha’: Enes Kanter Freedom Threatens To Don A Wig And Join The WNBA,” by The Daily Wire, Aug. 15.
- “Caitlyn Jenner says Enes Kanter Freedom, Royce White exposing WNBA’s trans ‘hypocrisy,’” by New York Post, Aug.16.
- “Fever coach dismisses Enes Kanter Freedom’s women’s sports fight as a 'social media thing,’” by Fox News’ Outkick, Aug. 24.
Apple News could have even leaned on stories from leftist outlets to spin a narrative more favorable to the left's position on the WNBA, but it couldn't be bothered to even do that. For example, it could have pulled from any of these stories:
- “WNBA players refuse to be 'political pawns' in forceful statement after Enes Freedom 'declares' for draft,” by The Mirror, Aug. 7.
- “Ex-NBA Player Enes Kanter Freedom Declares for WNBA in Latest Anti-Trans Stunt,” by Mediaite, Aug. 7.
- “Enes Kanter Freedom Says He’s Declaring for 2027 WNBA Draft amid Trans Athlete Debate,” by People Magazine, Aug.8.
- “These former NBA players are cruelly treating trans rights like a game,” by MS Now, Aug. 11.
Methodology: Using MRC’s Digital News Tracker, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories promoted by Apple News between July 22 and August 24, 2026 at approximately 8:30 AM ET. MRC researchers tallied the headlines of articles addressing the WNBA’s “transgender” controversy. MRC researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the bias presented of the featured outlets and analyzed the results.
