Two Former NBA Players, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, Declare for 2027 WNBA Draft as Women

Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, two former NBA players, announced within hours of each other on Friday that they intend to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft.

White, a former NBA first-round pick, has more recently been involved in politics, having run in the Minnesota Republican primary. Neither man has recently played professional basketball.

Both framed their declarations around gender identity, not basketball qualification. "If simply declaring who you are is all that's required, then I meet every requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA," Freedom stated in a social media post. White told Fox News Digital, "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," adding, "They're going to have nightmares, and they should. I really feel like I'm going to be dominant."

The declarations came in the wake of a public dispute involving WNBA player Sophie Cunningham, which had already drawn scrutiny to the league before Freedom and White made their moves.

Neither man has filed formal draft paperwork with the WNBA, and the league has not issued a ruling on their eligibility. Under Article XIII, Section 1(a) of the WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, "Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," but the agreement does not define the word "woman" and contains nothing addressing gender identification. That gap is the crux of the story: this is a test of the league's rules, not confirmation of an actual roster threat.

According to Fox News's analysis of the situation, the WNBA has a few paths forward. It could declare both men ineligible under current league rules without further elaboration — described as the "cleanest break" and the path the league is most likely to take, in part because it avoids follow-up questions from reporters. It could argue the two have publicly lived and identified as men rather than as transgender women and therefore don't meet draft requirements, though this risks inviting scrutiny over what distinguishes an eligible transgender woman from Freedom. Or it could attempt to write new eligibility criteria, such as requirements around transition history or hormone levels, into the rulebook — an approach that would keep White and Freedom out "for now" but effectively kick the issue down the road.

Neither Freedom nor White has outlined next steps, such as filing actual draft paperwork with a team or the league office, and no formal draft process for 2027 has begun.

As of this writing, no WNBA official has publicly commented on the declarations.