Former NBA Star Stephen Jackson Has Some Strong Words on Lia Thomas’ Participation in Female Event at NCAA

The NCAA tournament saw Lia Thomas becoming the first-ever transgender woman to win the 500-yard freestyle competition. This caused a lot of stir within the swimming fraternity. Many fans and athletes have voiced their concerns about allowing her to compete in the event. And the latest entrant to that list is former NBA player Stephen Jackson.

Jackson spoke about the problems related to Thomas’ inclusion in the swimming competitions.

Stephen Jackson goes off on Lia Thomas

Back in 2019, Thomas decided to change his sex and then started competing in the women’s division from 2020. The recent NCAA tournament saw her win the 500-yard freestyle race. Many athletes have spoken about the advantages she had in the men’s division. Moreover, Jackson spoke about the current scenario and his take on the situation.

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“You got this white dude who is scared to compete against a man and knew he was not better than a man, so he got a sex change just so he can be at the top. And so he can be the best in the world, but he wasn’t better than no man. We are not going to have our young women of all races work hard their whole life at a sport. Put all this time to be great, win a medal and be at the top, to be the best at their sport. All the work they put in to get to the top, and all of a sudden, they have to compete with a woman that had a sex change and is really a man,” said Thomas.

Rule changes

He also stressed rule changes to ensure fair competition for all athletes. During the 500-yard freestyle competition, Thomas clocked a time of 4:33.24 while the second-placed Emma Weyant finished 1.75 seconds behind him. This time was a season’s best and eight seconds off from Katie Ledecky’s record.

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To sum up, many fans have questioned the problem. Stephen Jackson is another person who talked about the inequality with the decision. Do you think Jackson is right?