‘He’s just scoring and out-rebounding with total ease. How is this fair?’
If one player nearly outscores an entire opposing team during a basketball game, you have to call the competitive balance into question.
When the player in question is transgender and playing against a team of high school girls, it opens a whole new can of worms.
During a game earlier this week in California, a transgender athlete scored 29 points for San Francisco Waldorf in the school’s 59-33 blowout win over Jewish Community High School.
Henry Hanlon, a biological male who identifies as female, was seen in footage that has gone viral on social media absolutely dominating the game while towering over the rest of the players on the court.
“Henry Hanlon, a male player towering 6+ inches over the tallest female on the court, scored 29 of the 59 points (49%!) last night in a win for his HS’s girl’s basketball team,” X user Colin Wright wrote while posting the video.
“He’s just scoring and out-rebounding with total ease. How is this fair?”
Many users were quick agree with the sentiment.
“He is a foot taller than the tallest player. Totally fair,” one user wrote on X.
“Waldorf’s entire playbook on a sticky note: Just give the ball to Henry,” another posted.
“The other team should have stayed on the bench in protest and every team that plays them should do the same. Pretty soon the team with the guy will realize cheating to win is wrong,” a third wrote.
Hanlon currently is Waldorf’s leading scorer in hoops, with almost 100 points more than the next closest teammate – despite missing one of the school’s eight games this season.
The senior is only getting better, too, averaging 21.4 points per game this season, up from the previous campaign’s 17 points per game, according to a report by the Daily Mail.
Hanlon is a three-sport athlete for Waldorf, also competing on the school’s volleyball and soccer teams – which caused issues last year.
In November, a Christian high school forfeited a volleyball game against Waldorf due to Hanlon’s presence on the team. The opponent’s head coach sent a letter to parents of their players citing the “health and safety” of her team as the reason for the forfeit.