‘I Identify As A Woman For Basketball’: Ex-NBA Star Declares For 2027 WNBA Draft

Last Updated:August 08, 2026, 16:20 IST

Former NBA player says he now identifies as transgender and plans to declare for 2027 WNBA draft. He demands to share the women’s locker room and threatens to sue if not picked.

Royce White #30 of the Power reacts during a game against the Aliens during BIG3 Week Eight at Comerica Center on August 06, 2022 in Frisco, Texas. Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images for BIG3/AFP (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Former NBA player Royce White has announced apparent plans to ‘declare’ for the 2027 WNBA draft, saying he now identifies as transgender. White, a Republican Senate candidate in Minnesota, seemed to make the remarks in a sarcastically taunting, almost derogatory way.

White, 35, told Fox News that he intends to pursue a professional basketball career in the WNBA and would consider legal action if he is prevented from participating or is not selected because of his gender identity.

“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as a woman for the purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White said.

The league’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA”, but does not further define ‘women’ or specify whether self-identification alone establishes eligibility. That has allowed the WNBA to become a playground for political debates and commentary

White challenged the WNBA to change its rules to end his declaration.

“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.

But he said he’d declare for the WNBA in either case and would sue the organisation if he goes undrafted.

“Oh, no, I’m declaring. And I don’t want to be discriminated against. I want fair treatment. I’m a young Black, hopefully United States Senator that would like a fair chance to participate as a sometimes-identifying-as-a-transgender-woman athlete,” he said.

White was selected 16th overall by the Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft after one season at Iowa State, where he averaged 13.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists. He became the only Division I player that season to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks.

He said he’d want to share the women’s locker room and that the other participants will have ‘nightmares’ about him.

“I’m 260 pounds, 265 pounds, 6-foot-8, can palm a basketball — can palm a men’s basketball probably as easily as any player in history,” White said. “I think I had the third-biggest hands in the modern NBA Draft Combine. So, yeah, I’m sure the women’s basketball is going to fare even easier to palm, which is a huge advantage. They’re going to have nightmares, and they should. I really feel like I’m going to be dominant.”

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