Two former NBA players just put the WNBA on notice.
Enes Kanter Freedom (Celtics) dropped a video Friday declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft. Royce White (Rockets) followed hours later with the same move.
Their point is straightforward: If the standard is self-identification, then they meet the requirements. Freedom said he and his team reviewed the league’s eligibility framework around self-ID and inclusion. White went further, stating he’s “transgender… sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball” and will declare unless the league issues a clear rule that biological males are not eligible for the women’s league.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement says only players who are women are eligible. It does not define “woman” or codify a pure self-ID pathway. That ambiguity is exactly what these two are forcing into the open.
This isn’t about them actually suiting up. It’s a deliberate pressure test of the rules many players and activists have publicly endorsed. Either the league draws a hard biological line, or it has to explain why self-declared eligibility works for some and not others.
EXCLUSIVE: Former NBA first-round pick Royce White says he's declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft, claiming he now identifies as transgender for the purpose of playing professional basketball.
The 6-foot-8 former Houston Rockets draft pick follows fellow former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who announced his own plans to declare amid the growing debate over transgender athletes in women's sports.
White told Fox News Digital he believes he'd be "unstoppable" in the WNBA and suggested he could pursue legal action if denied an opportunity to play.
White said the move is meant to challenge the WNBA to clearly define its eligibility rules for transgender athletes, saying: "I'd like to know what the parameters are."