Royce White made headlines recently when he shared his plans to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft. He has not yet filed formal paperwork with the WNBA as of yet.
“I think it’s going to end up being a huge legal battle, to be honest, and probably a necessary one,” White said.
White played just one season at Iowa State, but is regarded as one of the top players in Cyclones history.
In the 2011-12 season, White led the team in scoring (13.4), rebounding (9.3), assists (5.0), steals (1.1), and blocks (0.9). He was the only player in college basketball that season to accomplish that feat.
White was regarded as one of the top prospects in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Below, we will look at whether or not White ever played in the NBA.
Did Royce White Play In The NBA?
White’s career in the NBA was extremely brief despite being the 16th overall pick in the 2012 Draft.
Houston selected White in the first round that year, but White he played in a game for the Rockets.
White has a severe fear of flying, which, he says, magnifies his anxiety disorder. The Minneapolis native asked the Rockets to let him travel by bus for some of the team’s more extensive road trips. White and the Rockets initially had a plan in place for him to travel by bus, but it never came to fruition. White would accuse the Rockets of being “inconsistent with their agreement to proactively create a healthy and successful relationship,” while the Rockets would accuse White of missing practices and team meetings.
After refusing assignment to Houston’s G-League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, multiple times, he finally made his pro debut on Feb. 12, 2013, playing 18 minutes off the bench for the Vipers. He scored seven points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
White would play 16 games with the Vipers that season, averaging 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
The 6-foot-8 White was traded from the Rockets to the Philadelphia 76ers in July of 2013 in exchange for “future draft considerations.”
White never played a game for Philly, as they released him just three months after acquiring him.
He finally made his NBA debut on March 21, 2013 as a member of the Sacramento Kings. He played just 56 seconds and didn’t contribute to the box score.
White ultimately played in just three NBA games, all with the Kings that March. He never scored a point or had an official rebound.
That said, White did find pro ball success later on as he was named MVP of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL) in 2017, averaging 20.2 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game.
He then played in Ice Cube’s Big3 league, fought, and loss, a mixed martial arts contest, and was the Republican nominee for Senate in Minnesota in 2024. He lost the general election to incumbent Amy Klobuchar by 16 points.
White is running in next week’s Republican primary for Minnesota’s other Senate seat, currently held by Tina Smith. A judge recently ruled that White abused his ex-wife and their teenage son and handed down a 50-year no contact order against him.
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