Royce White not only believes that he should be eligible to play in the WNBA, he mock claims that his well-known fear of flying was caused by being transgender.

“I realized my fear of flying really wasn’t a fear of flying,” White, the former NBA player, said on his podcast, “Free People Radio,” where he hosted David Penn (also known as “Professor Penn”). 

“It was the transgender trapped inside of me, caged inside of me, that gave me an aversion to small spaces.”

Over the weekend, White became the second former NBA player to say he would enter the 2027 WNBA Draft as a transgender. Enes Kanter Freedom had previously said he was planning to do the same (and in fact, he officially declared for the draft on Monday).

In the interview, White was seen wearing a wig. He had posted a photo of himself in the wig on X this past Saturday when he wrote that he is now in his “feminine era.” 

“I think there are plenty of people out there who have a transgender trapped deep down inside of them,” White said, “and so they think they’re claustrophobic. . . . Not really claustrophobic. It’s the transgender that’s trapped.”

White’s antics continued Sunday, when he and former NBA player Robin Lopez got into an argument on X, after Lopez said he can’t “imagine anybody wants Enes Kanter or Royce White around them for 4 minutes.”

In 2012, ESPN reported that White had a fear of flying, as it magnified his “anxiety disorder.”

White was selected 16th overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets but only appeared in three NBA games. In his post-playing career, he has gotten into politics and is a Republican candidate for US Senate.