Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was removed from Sunday night’s game between the Sky and Fever at Wintrust Arena in Chicago after a heated interaction between the ex-hooper and Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Freedom has thrust himself into the ongoing discourse surrounding trans athletes in women’s sports, which has set off a firestorm in the WNBA after Sophie Cunningham told ESPN she wanted to protect “young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
It’s not entirely clear what set off the situation, but during the third quarter, after Cloud made a layup, she started to say something toward the baseline where Freedom was sitting.
Cloud’s Sky teammates and team personnel had to hold her back and Freedom was seen on the broadcast getting up out of his seat and walking toward Cloud with a smirk on his face and arms outstretched.
Arena security quickly got involved and moved Freedom from his seat and to a spot behind the basket, where it seemed he was informed he had to leave.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud didn’t want to be a distraction for the team, according to The Associated Press.
“I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected, and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”
Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with the media, the AP reported.
Freedom, who has declared himself eligible for the WNBA draft, saying that he identifies as a woman, was booed by the crowd as he was removed from the arena and appeared to try to argue with security before holding up his shirt that read: “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
Video in the lobby of the arena showed Freedom arguing with uniformed officers from the Chicago Police Department, and he could be heard claiming, “I’m supporting women, and that is the reason they are kicking me out; it is unacceptable.”
Freedom then walked out the front entrance with several other people, including one man in a blue shirt and jeans who was filming with his phone and could be seen in other videos from Sunday filming the ex-NBA player as he walked into the arena.
The Post has reached out to the WNBA and the Sky for comment on the incident.
Freedom, who played 11 seasons in the NBA, including parts of two with the Knicks, posted several times to social media Sunday.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN!” he wrote on X. “Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
And in a second post following his ejection from the arena, he wrote, “It’s always women hating on other women.”
He also posted video of himself walking into the venue and being shouted at and booed by WNBA fans, and he appeared at a pro-Cunningham rally outside the arena.
Kanter Freedom told Fox News Channel’s “My View with Lara Trump” over the weekend that Cunningham was “an American hero” for her stance on the ongoing debate.
“I think she’s inspiring not only the players in the WNBA but girls from all over the world,” he said.“Not only in America, because I get so many messages, and they’re saying that, from all over the world, they say, ‘Hey, if you ever see Sophie Cunningham, can you please say hi to her?’ ”
