Meet the NBA star who has become a ‘beautiful black trans queen’ to play in WNBA
Royce White has spent over a decade refusing to play by anyone else’s rules.
He is a declared 2028 presidential candidate, a two-time Senate candidate and the man who has handed the WNBA a 10-day deadline to say why he cannot play in it.
It’s fair to say that he is not new to reinvention. A first-round NBA Draft pick in 2012, White’s playing career fizzled after a standoff with the Houston Rockets over his anxiety disorder – a fight that, he insists, rewrote the league’s mental health policy.
He went on to compete as a heavyweight mixed martial artist, then twice ran for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota, before losing narrowly and finishing third in this year’s Republican primary. He has now announced a run for President in 2028.
However, his latest venture is arguably his strangest yet. Earlier this month, White submitted a formal declaration to the WNBA asserting his eligibility for the 2027 draft on the basis that he identifies as a woman.
Reports subsequently emerged suggesting the league considers him ineligible.
Royce White has handed the WNBA a 10-day deadline to say why he cannot play in it
White’s playing career fizzled after a standoff with the Rockets over his anxiety disorder
A transgender storm has engulfed the WNBA following Sophie Cunningham’s comments
‘The official communication that we sent to the league informed them that I was declaring for the draft – or declaring myself eligible in the league. No, we’ve not had any official communication back,’ White told The Daily Mail.
‘We gave them 10 business days to respond in terms of letting us know about my eligibility, so that 10 days isn’t even up yet.’
The former NBA star added: ‘We are still in the throes of highly polarized political and ideologically captured institutions in this country, and the WNBA is one of them.
‘As a beautiful black trans queen, I just want them to keep to their standards when it comes to Roycha, Roycha’s dreams, Roycha’s aspirations, and Roycha’s desire to be included and respected. I have a right to exist.’
White’s move lands at a moment of major commercial success and intense cultural friction for the league. While TV ratings and attendance number soar, the sidelines have transformed into battlegrounds over gender identity.
The tension boiled over when Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham told ESPN she wanted to protect young girls in locker rooms and in sport from biological men.
Her comments triggered numerous rallies outside arenas across the country and turned Cunningham into one of the most discussed players in the league.
The saga continued when Enes Kanter Freedom declared for the 2027 WNBA Draft, with White following suit soon after. Freedom then attended a WNBA game wearing a T-shirt bearing the definition of a woman, triggering a heated confrontation with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud before he was escorted out of the arena.
‘I thought they overreacted in how they treated him,’ White said. ‘It was a very minor clash, and to me, it just underlined the politicization of what’s going on.’
Cunningham said she wanted to protect women in locker rooms and sport from biological men
WNBA star Natasha Cloud had to be held back after confronting Enes Kanter Freedom
White was selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Iowa State
Despite running parallel public challenges to WNBA draft regulations, White clarified that the two former NBA players are not acting in tandem.
In fact, they have never spoken – despite a near-miss 15 years ago when John Calipari recruited both to the University of Kentucky.
‘We run in different circles, and that’s fine. I’m sure our paths will cross, but I’m not seeking a bromance alliance,’ White said. ‘But hats off to him, and I hope he gets drafted. The league needs to stick to its standards or make them clear.’
White’s trajectory to this cultural flashpoint has been far different to many other stars.
Selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Iowa State, his NBA tenure was cut short during a bitter dispute over mental health protocols and his generalized anxiety disorder, which included a severe fear of flying.
White insists the mainstream narrative obscured what really occurred, maintaining that he authored the very policies the league later implemented for other stars.
‘The information is so bad in our country that people actually think I’m not playing in the NBA today solely because I couldn’t fly on airplanes,’ White said.
‘In 2012, the NBA didn’t have a single mention of mental health in their entire collective bargaining agreement. I actually wrote the policy they put in place. The policy currently in place for the NBA regarding mental health came out of my personal notebook.’
After stints in the G League, the BIG3 and the MMA cage, White transitioned into politics
He mounted runs for Congress and won the Minnesota Republican endorsement for the Senate
‘The NBA and I had a huge argument about mental health policy,’ he claimed. ‘Their doctors agreed with me that there needed to be a policy, but they disagreed that I should be the one forcing the issue because it put them on the spot. In the offseason, I was pushed out of the league – or blackballed, for lack of a better term.’
He said former players have quietly rallied behind him since his WNBA declaration, even if the league itself has stayed silent. ‘There’s a wink and a nod. People say, ‘You’re right. Keep going, keep doing what you’re doing,” he says.
‘A lot of players message me saying, ‘What are we even talking about, from a basketball standpoint?”
After stints in the G League, the BIG3 and the MMA cage, White transitioned into politics. He mounted runs for U.S. Congress, captured the Minnesota Republican endorsement for the U.S. Senate in 2024, and now has his sights set on the WNBA.
White makes no secret of the fact that he sees his WNBA bid as one front in a much bigger culture war. ‘The Lynx coach is a good example – she [Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeves] wore the T-shirt. The Valkyries coach made comments about it.
‘They could have said, ‘No comment,” he said. ‘They commented because they feel passionately about it. It just so happens a lot of people in this country disagree with their opinion.’
The comments come amid mounting player dissatisfaction with WNBA cheief Cathy Engelbert
He is even willing to make an economic case for male athletes in the WNBA. ‘If LeBron James played in the WNBA, it would help the WNBA. I honestly mean that.
‘It would help money-wise, revenue-wise, and exposure-wise. It would help get more eyes on the game. You could make an economic argument that letting people assigned male at birth play in the WNBA would actually help the game.’
Much of the mounting pressure from the cultural saga has landed at the feet of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. When asked about her silence on the issue, White was characteristically blunt.
‘It’s white privilege,’ White said. ‘That’s heteronormative white privilege is what it is. I’ve seen stories about other issues where she’s been scrutinized. I think this is a pretty clear-cut issue, and obviously she’s struggling with it. I don’t like scapegoats.
‘The political pressure on her is either a widespread cultural thing or coming from above. I’d love to hear what the NBA has to say – they’ve been quiet on the whole matter, but we all know they’re footing the bill for the league.
‘The WNBA is as popular as it’s ever been,’ he continued. ‘If the WNBA is saying I’m ineligible, why wouldn’t they want me in the league? That’s the question people should ask Cathy: if Royce White identifies as a woman and is willing to play, why wouldn’t you want her in your league?’
‘Hopefully, they do the right thing and either clearly define the criteria of what a woman is and say I don’t meet it, or just let me play and we’ll have a blast,’ White concluded.
