Earlier this month, former NBA star Enes Freedom made headlines for some controversial comments he made against transgender athletes. And this week, he revealed who inspired those comments: anti-transgender activist Riley Gaines.
Riley Gaines is a former Kentucky Wildcats swimmer who has become a prominent voice speaking out against transgender women competing in women’s sports. And Freedom said he was “inspired” by Gaines when he mockingly suggested that he should pretend to be a woman and join the WNBA.
“I actually met Riley Gaines last year at the State of the Union. She’s a very brave woman and I think what she’s doing is amazing. She is one of the biggest voices in women’s sports. She was actually one of the athletes that inspired me. We both went to the same college – Kentucky,” Freedom told Fox News.
“So, no, not only her but many other women athletes are coming out and saying, ‘This is just not fair, enough is enough. We worked so hard our whole life to get to this point and now there’s someone who is not even a woman, who is a biological male, comes out and who is stronger, who is bigger, who is taller, and now we are trying to compete against him.’ Their interviews definitely inspired me a lot, big time.”
Freedom made it clear that he does not intend to stop criticizing transgender athletes.
