Royce White: Former NBA Player and GOP Senate Hopeful Declares Himself Trans and Announces to Draft for 2027 WNBA

Former NBA player Royce White plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft, becoming the second former professional player to challenge the league’s policy on transgender athletes, amid the ongoing debate.

White, 35, a Republican US Senate candidate who appeared in just three NBA games during his brief professional career, made the announcement Friday, shortly after former first-round pick and Knicks center Enes Kanter Freedom said earlier that day that he planned to enter the WNBA Draft. “I’m transgender. I’m a woman… I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purposes of… professional basketball,” White told Fox News. “I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy,” White continued.

Declaring His Choice

“I’m a pass-first kind of player. I do the little things. I led my team in all five major stat categories at Iowa State University, so I do a little bit of everything. I’ll do whatever the coach needs me to do. I’ll do whatever the girls need me to do.”

“I think it’s only fair.”

Earlier that day, Enes Kanter Freedom said he had reviewed the WNBA’s eligibility criteria and believed he met the requirements to play.

Article XIII of the WNBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement states, “Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.”

However, the 409-page agreement does not define “women” or outline a policy on transgender eligibility. It also does not specify whether self-identification alone is enough to qualify.

Freedom said he and his team had reviewed the WNBA’s eligibility rules, including its approach to self-identification and inclusion. He argued that if declaring an identity were enough, he would meet the requirements to compete.

Trying Their Best

White said the league could put an end to his challenge by simply making its position clear on biological men competing in women’s sports. “I think the WNBA could come out and make a definitive statement about guys with a pair of balls playing in the Women’s Association,” he said, adding that he plans to move forward unless the league clarifies the controversial issue.

If he goes undrafted, he vowed to sue.

“I have to file a discrimination lawsuit, right? I mean, that’s, that’s ridiculous,” he told the outlet. “We’re gonna have to have a huge legal battle about discrimination if I can’t play.”

The 6-foot-8 forward was selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Iowa State University but never played for the team because of a generalized anxiety disorder stemming from a severe fear of flying.

White is on the ballot for Minnesota’s Aug. 11 Republican Senate primary. He won the GOP primary in 2024 but failed to defeat incumbent Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who had also previously run for president.

The debate over transgender participation in the league intensified last month after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham spoke out against trans athletes competing in women’s sports.

“I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” she told ESPN, later defending her comments as “common sense.”

“I think there is room for absolutely everyone here, and I think there is room to love everyone,” Cunningham said. “I truly think when you get people in the same room and you have conversations, you actually have a lot in common with a lot of people. And so I’m there to love.