Sophie Cunningham spurs NBA dud to try WNBA draft as transgender player

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He didn’t score many points in his brief stint in the pros — but an ex-NBA player running for Congress appears to be going to great lengths to make one.

Former NBA bust and current Republican Senate candidate Royce White has announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft, claiming he now identifies as transgender — for athletic purposes, anyway.

“I’m transgender. I’m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I’ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White, 35, told Fox News Saturday.

White’s announcement comes one day after former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom said he also plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft. Freedom’s statement followed comments from WNBA player Sophie Cunningham about transgender athletes that renewed a heated debate on the league’s policies for transgender players. It also comes as President Donald Trump has made barring transgender athletes born male from competing in women’s athletics.

White, a 6’8” forward who played just three games in the NBA, all in 2014, continued Saturday, “I think I’d be unstoppable. But I’m a team-first guy. 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.”

Former NBA player and U.S. Senate candidate Royce White announced Saturday that he plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft amid controversy over the league’s transgender eligibility policies (AP)

“I think it’s only fair,” he added.

Freedom said he reviewed the WNBA’s eligibility rules before announcing his plans to enter the league and believes he meets the requirements to play.

The WNBA’s 2026 collective bargaining agreement states in Article XIII that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” However, the 409-page agreement does not define what qualifies as a “woman” for eligibility purposes.

Following Freedom’s announcement, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association said in a statement: “We embrace justice equity, diversity, and inclusion. Those are the values that unite this Union and allow it to protect women’s sports while creating transformational change,” the statement read.

“Hate, abuse, and demonization of any person or group of people, including transgender people, only fuel fear, division, and harm. We will continue to have hard conversations,” the group added in the Instagram post. “But we will not be used as political pawns.”

White said Saturday that the WNBA could end the controversy by clearly stating its policy on whether males are eligible to compete 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 he will continue moving forward in his draft bid unless the league addresses the controversial issue.

Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was the first to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft on Friday (AFP/Getty)

The WNBA’s transgender athlete debate intensified in July after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham criticized trans participation in women’s sports (Getty)

White further claimed he could take legal action if he is not drafted or signed by a WNBA team.

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

White was selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft out of Iowa State but never played for the team because of severe anxiety and a fear of flying.

Nowadays, he is running in Minnesota’s August 11 Republican primary for U.S. Senate. White previously ran as the Republican nominee against Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024 but lost the general election.

The debate over transgender athletes in the WNBA intensified last month after Cunningham, a guard for the Indiana Fever, criticized trans participation 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,” Cunningham told ESPN, later doubling down on her comments, claiming they were “common sense.”

The Independent has contacted the WNBA and WNBPA for comment.