CHICAGO — Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday’s game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky after a verbal altercation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Kanter Freedom was sitting courtside in a black T-shirt that read: “WOMAN noun. adult human female.” When a timeout was called late in the third quarter, Cloud walked toward Kanter Freedom and shouted at him. He was standing with his arms outstretched and took a few steps toward the court before security cut him off and directed him to leave.
Cloud was held back by teammates and security as she continued to shout and point at Kanter Freedom. She spoke with team and league security after Chicago’s 113-90 loss but did not address the media.
Cloud took to social media later Sunday night, saying in a Threads post that transgender people “will always be protected by me.”
“There’s so much good things about this league and so many good things about the play of these players,” Sky coach Tyler Marsh said. “And if you come to a game, you should probably come to enjoy the basketball. That seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that.
“Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that, too.”
Kanter Freedom pumped his fist and mocked Cloud with a hand gesture that imitated her talking. While arguing that he should not have to leave, he waved his arms to the crowd before holding out his shirt while exiting.
He had a conversation with a group of police officers before leaving Wintrust Arena.
“This is unacceptable,” Kanter Freedom could be heard saying to police.
He later posted on social media: “I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
Before the game, he posted a video of himself smiling during a confrontation with fans outside the arena, raising his hands with his palms out before placing them behind his back and walking toward the building.
Kanter Freedom, who played 11 years in the NBA, has been a vocal participant in the national debate sparked by Fever guard Sophie Cunningham‘s comments regarding transgender athletes. He declared himself eligible for the WNBA draft, saying he identifies as a woman. Another former NBA player, Royce White, did as well.
The WNBA collective bargaining agreement signed in March states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” There is no further definition of a woman, and the WNBA has no publicly available policy governing eligibility of transgender or intersex athletes. No known transgender woman has played in the WNBA.
A woman sitting in Kanter Freedom’s row Sunday said he only cheered during the game. Trista Smith of Boise, Idaho, who was wearing a gold Caitlin Clark Fever shirt, said she flew in to attend the game and happened to be sitting in the same row as him. She followed him out to the lobby area after he was ejected.
“I don’t know him personally. I know who he is, and I think this is unfair,” she said. “He is wearing a shirt that says a woman is a human female. And so, everybody gets their you-know-what a lot. It’s not fair. So, I’m here to support him. I’ll pull him back in. Let’s go.”
Meanwhile, Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the Sky.
“I told her she wasn’t,” he said. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected. So, Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”
Clark said she didn’t see what was happening as the team had already moved to the sideline after the timeout was called.
“I think it’s important that people like you guys in this room don’t give it any gas,” Fever coach Stephanie White said postgame. “It’s a social media thing.”
Before the game, Cunningham was asked about dealing with the outside noise that has followed the Fever regarding a variety of topics both on and off the court. She said it hasn’t affected the locker room.
“Personally, I rely a lot on my faith,” Cunningham said. “I rely a lot on my inner circle. It keeps me grounded. I’ve been at peace this whole time. I stay true to myself, and I’m proud of who I am and how I was raised.
“As our team as a whole, we just take care of each other. There’s so much speculation outside of our locker room and people are trying to like, I don’t even know what’s going on. But we’re like, ‘Hey, we’re all cool.'”
She added: “Indiana, you have to be mentally tough to play here. … You have to be mentally tough because people just say whatever they want to say, and that’s what we signed up for. That’s the platform that we’re on, and I think it’s a blessing. It’s a great opportunity to be a positive influence in our culture today.”
Information from ESPN’s Katie Barnes was used in this report.
