Australian Opals star Anneli Maley has accused social media followers of Andrew Bogut of ‘showing up at her house’ as he continues to provoke debate about a transgender female player.
Lexi Rodgers was revealed on Wednesday as the transgender female who is set to play in the second-tier NBL1 South women’s league this season.
Controversial Aussie basketball legend Andrew Bogut continues to refer to Rodgers as a ‘biological male’ and openly slams any female player or fans who speak up in support of her.
That has since taken a dark turn, with Maley, who revealed Rodgers’ identity on her podcast Under the Surface, alleging that supporters of the outspoken NBA champion even turned up to her house, or threatened her with physical violence.
‘People that follow YOU showed up at MY HOUSE. I received hundreds of physical threats,’ last season’s WNBL MVP wrote on a social media post calling out Bogut.
WNBL star Anneli Maley (left, pictured with fellow WNBL player, and partner, Marena Whittle) said followers of controversial Aussie basketball legend Andrew Bogut showed up at her house amid debate of a female transgender player competing in a female NBL1 league
Andrew Bogut accused Maley of lying, delivering a scathing spray at her for not appearing on his podcast
Many other WNBL players like Lynx star Chloe Bibby were also attacked for saying they had no issue playing against a transgender female
Maley, along with partner Marena Whittle, Saraid Taylor and Chloe Bibby, was among many female players to speak out in support of a transgender player competing in NBL1 South this season, despite Bogut saying Rodgers playing would ‘violate the sanctity of women’s sport’.
As Bogut supporters flooded social media abuse that the players described as ‘transphobic’, Maley invited Bogut to debate the issue on a public forum so she could ‘educate’ him on what being a transgender female was.
They were all set to appear on Bogut’s podcast Rogue Bogues alongside staunch transgender critic Katherine Deves, before Maley pulled out – citing safety concerns.
But that excuse didn’t wash with an enraged Bogut, who delivered a withering spray at the Aussie representative, who he accused of playing ‘the victim’, branding her a liar.
Bogut suggested Maley was lying about his supporters on social media showing up at her house
‘She (Maley) unsurprisingly pulled out days prior to recording,’ he wrote on his social media post, where he linked to his podcast episode with Deves.
‘Now we learn people have come to her house to threaten her? Hmmm hopefully you filed a Police report Anneli?
‘I would suggest calling Ghostbusters though, they will be better suited to find the people who ‘came to your house.
‘This is almost always the issue. The loudest activist types can sit on social media and sling insults like ‘nazi, transphobe, uneducated, bigot etc etc.
‘The moment they are asked to have a discussion something always ‘comes up’ and they cannot attend. I believe it’s more they realise yelling those names above won’t work very well during a long form discussion.’
Maley said she was ‘speechless’ at Bogut doubling-down on the criticism, accusing him of threatening her safety by getting into such a public mud-slinging match, which his social media followers clung to and used against her.
Maley and partner Marena Whittle have come under attack from followers of Bogut on social media, attacking them for supporting a fellow female player
‘I decided not to have a conversation with you because after a few social media posts I wasn’t safe,’ Maley wrote in reply.
‘You were made aware of this, yet you have decided to call me out instead of encouraging the people that follow you not to threaten a female.
‘I am having a public conversation with someone (Rodgers) … just not someone who endangers my personal safety.
‘You have no idea what it’s like to be a woman getting physical threats from grown men.
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‘I don’t need to justify my experience to you or any man that questions my experience.’
An inherent irony became apparent when Deves and Bogut alleged there were ‘girls, women, parents, volunteers, referees and coaches too afraid to come forward’ about a transgender female playing – while at the same time trying to silence several female athletes from the ‘women’s sport’ they were trying to ‘save’.
For her part, Maley just wanted to put a face to the name when revealing, alongside Rodgers, exactly who was the face caught in the middle of an increasingly ugly war on social media.
‘It’s good to have a bit of a voice, now, because, when it’s this hypothetical person and people are making a picture of what a transgender athlete looks like in their head, 1: I don’t think it’s me, and, 2: I think it’s a bit harsh and people forget that there’s actually a person,’ said Rodgers on Maley’s podcast.
‘If you don’t get it and you don’t know 1: don’t yell stuff on the internet about it because it’s probably wrong, and, 2: Go and learn about it.’
Rodgers then urged those criticising her remember the debate affected ‘actual people’ – she is not some faceless athlete that anyone can troll online.
‘Please be nice. It has been a hard week, so just try to remember that there’s actual people who are affected by these discussions and these debates,’ she said.
Like many (studies say more than 40 per cent of trans youth had considered attempting suicide) young people, Rodgers, who has always been a talented basketballer, suppressed her feelings.
She revealed he had first felt feminine tendencies as a teenager before transitioning during Covid, when she went through a relationship break-up and a terminal cancer diagnosis for her mother.
Now, after giving up basketball in her teens, she harbours hopes of representing at the highest level, with the WNBL and potential Australia’s national side, the Opals.
Levi Rodgers appeared on Maley’s podcast Under the Surface to put a face to the unknown transgender female who people had been attacking online
‘It was overwhelming. It was such a quick move from: ‘Oh, I’m going to be a more feminine guy’ to ‘I’m trans, there’s no doubt about it’,’ she said.
‘Coming into women’s basketball has been pretty cool, because, unfortunately, I didn’t know many of you before.
‘But now, watching you (Maley) play, and watching people like Cayla (George, current MVP) play, Mon Conti (WNBL and AFLW star) that’s where I want to get to, that’s where I want to be.’
Sensationally, Bogut has now claimed there is a conspiracy in Australia when it comes to transgender females participating in female sport.
‘What’s interesting is many leagues try to cover this all up. Take for example Football Australia. Leading goal kickers in multiple leagues are biological males. The leagues wont print the players names and try to hide the fact,’ he claimed on Twitter.
Basketball Australia has convened a panel to assess whether Rodgers is eligible to play in the NBL1 South this season, and is due to make their decision in the coming days.
