{"id":71686,"date":"2026-08-29T06:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T06:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/71686\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T06:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T06:59:19","slug":"royce-white-shows-up-to-indiana-fever-game-in-blonde-wig-amid-wnba-draft-pursuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/71686\/","title":{"rendered":"Royce White shows up to Indiana Fever game in blonde wig amid WNBA Draft pursuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Former NBA player Royce White brought his WNBA<\/a> Draft campaign directly to an arena Friday night, just days after Enes Kanter Freedom was thrown out of a game. Both White and Freedom have declared for the next WNBA Draft as males.<\/p>\n

White attended the Indiana Fever\u2019s game against the Connecticut Sun<\/a> at Gainbridge Fieldhouse wearing a long blonde wig, as seen in photos and video obtained by OutKick.<\/p>\n

The former first-round NBA pick could be seen inside the arena wearing the wig as the Fever prepared to take on Connecticut. He was greeted with a friendly welcome by fans, as multiple people stopped to shake his hand and take pictures with him.<\/p>\n

\"Royce <\/p>\n

Royce White at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (OutKick)<\/p>\n

FORMER NBA PLAYER ROYCE WHITE SAYS HE IS DECLARING FOR NEXT WNBA DRAFT AFTER ENES KANTER ANNOUNCEMENT<\/a><\/p>\n

When asked by OutKick why he was there, White said, “All hail Queen Roysha, the queen has arrived, it’s great to be here… I’m here because Black trans lesbians matter, and we’ve always mattered, we’ve always existed… I’m here to participate and scout some of the competition maybe as well.”<\/p>\n

Freedom\u2019s ejection became a national storyline Sunday night and continued to draw attention after he was banned from future Sky games.<\/p>\n

CHICAGO SKY OWNER OPENS UP ON ENES KANTER FREEDOM EJECTION, MAKES ANALOGY TO SHOOTING A GUN<\/a><\/p>\n

When asked about Freedom’s incident and if fans might also see some “fireworks” with White in attendance on Friday, White responded, “I’m just here to spectate. I’m just here to support the WNBA and support the Fever.”<\/p>\n

\"Royce <\/p>\n

Royce White shakes hands with a fan at Gainbridge Fieldhouse (OutKick)<\/p>\n

Asked what reception he expected from Fever<\/a> fans Friday, White was unfazed:<\/p>\n

“Who cares? It\u2019s life, you get one life to live. You\u2019re born, you breathe, you stop breathing, hopefully you give all glory to God \u2026 Who cares what the reaction is?”<\/p>\n

His appearance continued the public campaign he launched earlier this month when he announced his intention to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft.<\/p>\n

White previously previewed the look on social media.<\/p>\n

White formally declared for the draft in a letter sent to the WNBA league office by his attorney, former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz<\/a>. The declaration stated that White identified as a transgender woman and claimed eligibility under the league\u2019s new collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n

The CBA states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it does not provide a more specific definition based on biological sex or gender identity.<\/p>\n

White has made clear that his declaration is intended to pressure the WNBA into explicitly stating whether biological males can compete<\/a> in the league.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m transgender. I\u2019m a woman. I identify as sometimes identifying as a woman for purpose of basketball, professional basketball, so I\u2019ll be declaring for the WNBA draft in 2027 as well,” White previously told OutKick.<\/p>\n

White has also threatened to pursue a discrimination lawsuit if he is not allowed to compete.<\/p>\n

Multiple outlets reported this week that White and fellow former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom would not be eligible for the draft. A league source characterized their declarations as “publicity stunts.” However, White\u2019s legal team said it had not received a formal determination directly from the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\"Royce <\/p>\n

Royce White poses with a fan before a WNBA game in Indiana.\u00a0 (OutKick)<\/p>\n

“The WNBA should preserve all records in anticipation of litigation,” Gaetz wrote on social media.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

White was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft after starring at Iowa State. He appeared in only three NBA games, all with the Sacramento Kings in 2014.<\/p>\n

Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former NBA player Royce White brought his WNBA Draft campaign directly to an arena Friday night, just days…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[5440,8,5441,2733,9,12309,7,4386],"class_list":["post-71686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-stories","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-headlines","tag-indiana-fever","tag-nba","tag-news","tag-outkick-sports","tag-top-stories","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/117177507131563456","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}