While the WNBA faces loud questioning about its gender eligibility guidelines, an upstart rival women’s basketball league is slamming them for their handling of the issue—and aims to prevent ending up in the same situation.
Alana Beard, a former WNBA star and the co-founder of the planned global basketball league Project B, told Front Office Sports she’s disappointed in WNBA leadership for not taking a stand as non-basketball narratives dominate its discourse.
“Where’s the accountability, the integrity, the intentionality?” said Beard, who is also the league’s chief basketball officer. “All of it is needed right now, in what could become one of the most defining moments in the history of the sport.”
Beard added that Project B, which says it will launch in January, will focus on “creating joy and delivering the highest quality of basketball.” Project B has signed several WNBA stars, including Nneka Ogwumike, Jonquel Jones, and Sophie Cunningham.
Cunningham’s comments in an ESPN profile published in late July have put an increased focus on the WNBA’s eligibility requirements. The Indiana Fever guard said she wants “to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
