How good is Julie Tetart? Meet France's transgender basketball player getting WNBA buzz

Sophie Cunningham's denunciation of trans women playing in the WNBA brought about a firestorm of controversy in recent weeks.

A French transgender women's basketball star has found herself in the center of the tempest as of late.

Julie Tetart enjoyed a wondrous campaign in France's second-tier this season, producing impressive stat lines that had some wondering whether she could take her talents to women's basketball's greatest competition.

The facts suggest that prospect might be far-fetched, however. With that,  here's what you need to know about Tetart, one of Ligue 2's best performers.

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Who is Julie Tetart?

Tetart is a 34-year-old women's basketball player plying her trade for Ligue Feminine 2 side Monaco. Tetart enjoyed a standout campaign for the Monegasque side, posting averages of 21.2 points and 20.2 rebounds in 2025-26. Monaco plays in the second-tier of French basketball, having secured promotion to the league in 2024-25. Powered by Tetart's exploits, the side earned a berth in the Ligue 2 playoffs, only to fall to Feytiat in the quarterfinals.

A transgender woman, Tetart transitioned in 2021. She returned to the sport in 2024 after having six gender-affirming operations. Tetart had her larynx narrowed and vocal cords adjusted, resulting in a loss of lung capacity and muscle mass.

"It's irreversible but I'm not complaining because I wanted it," Tetart told RMC Sport in 2025.

"This sport has been my whole life, my escape since I was 5 years old. Following the Olympics made me want to start again."

Tetart led the league in scoring and rebounding in 2025-26, finding success against her contemporaries. Despite her exploits, she failed to collect MVP honors, with Manaelle Yerbe claiming the title of league's best player at Tetart's expense. Tetart also failed to earn a spot in the competition's all-league team, with some suggesting that Monaco's lackluster finish may have weighed into Tetart's snub.

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Tetart was one of two trans athletes to be left off of the postseason awards list. La Tronche's Aurore Pautou also enjoyed a solid campaign in 2025-26, averaging 14.6 points and 7.8 rebounds. However, she proved unable to get her hands on any trophies come the end of the campaign.

Both Tetart and Paulou have lamented the transphobic treatment they have received at the hands of spectators during their careers, 

"The insults are shocking and we will never get used to them," said Maud Stervinou, Tetart's teammate with Monaco. "Collectively we try to block it and be there for her as much as we can. On the other hand, I don't understand why we don't intervene."

Tetart questioned why referees don't intervene when they see she is subjected to transphobia.

"Unfortunately, nothing is happening," Tetart said. "We act like we don't hear, we don't see and play as if nothing had happened. It's new, unprecedented, we're not used to it but the comments are degrading and humiliating. When there is racism, there are sanctions and there, nothing happens."

Julie Tetart height and weight

Tetart has a listed height of 6-3 (1m90) and reportedly weighs around 195 pounds (88 kilograms). She has shown a penchant for dunks in her career, although she has yet to pull one off in a game.

How old is Julie Tetart?

Tetart is 34 years old. She has followed the sport since she was a child, using it as an outlet to express herself and release tension from the doldrums of every day life. Tetart said she struggled to get back into the sport after transitioning, only finding her footing in recent years.

"When I started again, I was told 'you have basketball but physically you are poor and you don't know how to play in the racket'," Tetart said. "I stopped for several years and had to work a lot."

MORE: History of WNBA players who can dunk

How good is Julie Tetart?

Tetart is a great player by Ligue 2 standards. Her averages leap off the page compared to her foes. She has little in the form of an outside game, only taking one three-pointer this season. She has proven difficult to stop inside the paint however, using her strength, footwork and touch to anchor Monaco's attack.

Tetart's meager block figures (14 in 32 games) suggest she isn't the most accomplished interior defender. She also struggles to keep the ball in her grasp, turning the ball over 81 times compared to just 52 assists.

Still, Tetart's exploits as a post scorer can't be denied. She is undoubtedly Ligue 2's most difficult guard inside of the painted area — even if she toiled a bit in Monaco's season-ending defeat to Feytiat.

Where does Julie Tetart play basketball?

Tetart plays in Ligue 2, the second division of French women's basketball. She shares the floor with a variety of players, some as young as 17. There are a gaggle of U.S.-based players housed within the league's shield, too; Concordia University Irvine product Michaela Vanderklugt, San Diego State alum Yummy Morris and former Arkansas-Pine Bluff star Khadijah Brown among the more prominent U.S.-born talents trying their luck in France's second-tier.

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Julie Tetart basketball stats

Here's a look at Tetart's numbers during the 2025-26 season:

Julie Tetart highlights

Here's a look at Tetart's highlights during her first season in Ligue 2:

L'enchaînement de Julie Tetart ⚡️pour reprendre la tête du match !🚀#CDFBasket pic.twitter.com/K856BgfdOY

Are there transgender players in the WNBA?

As of now, there are no active transgender players in the WNBA. Layshia Clarendon, the league's first openly transgender and nonbinary player, played 12 years in the WNBA before retiring in 2024.

Clarendon, who uses all pronouns, was selected ninth by the Fever in 2013. In 2017, he was named an All-Star with the Dream. He spent time with the Sun, Liberty and Lynx before ending his career, averaging 7.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds across 284 games.

A tireless organizer, Clarendon was elected as the WNBPA's first vice president in 2016. They played a pivotal role in helping facilitate the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement in 2020 — a building block for the more recent CBA deal that saw salaries soar. Shortly after the 2020 season, Clarendon announced they were nonbinary and transgender. They became the first player to undergo top surgery in 2021.

"The way the W looks and feels right now is largely a testament to the people that have been doing the work," USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb told ESPN. "And there's no one more important in that realm than Layshia."

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Why Julie Tetart playing in WNBA is a longshot

For those of a certain disposition, Tetart's dominance might suggest that an opportunity in the WNBA beckons. She recently told right-wing outlet OutKick that she would be open to the opportunity to test her skills against the WNBA's best.

"If they contact me, I won't say no," Tetart said. "But you have to be realistic: I'm old, and there are far better players than me."

The latter part of Tetart's statement is salient. For all of her success in Ligue 2, Tetart is playing at a caliber far beneath the WNBA's. Of France's 2024 silver-medal-winning Olympic team, eight currently play for WNBA rosters. The remaining either play in the top-flight of French basketball (Ligue I) or a different top European league.

France's 32-player preliminary FIBA World Cup roster features 12 WNBA players, spearheaded by All-Stars Dominique Malonga and Gabby Williams and fellow standouts Carla Leite and Janelle Salaun. Tetart was curiously left off of that roster. Perhaps that's an indication of how French authorities view her skillset.

The reality is that Tetart is a 34-year-old who has yet to prove herself in a legit league. France's coaches seem to understand that. You'd have to think WNBA front offices would feel similarly.