Enes Kanter ejected after courtside stunt at Chicago Sky game as past activism resurfaces
Enes Kanter sat courtside at the Chicago Sky’s game against the Indiana Fever on Sunday night wearing a shirt that read "WOMAN noun. adult human female," joined a rally in support of Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and was escorted out after stepping onto the court and being confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Nine years earlier, at an NBPA news conference in midtown Manhattan in May 2017, Kanter described a period of international detention and travel disruption after Turkish authorities canceled his passport; he told reporters "I'm open for adoption" and said, "My next move is to just become an American citizen." He recounted being woken at 2.30am in Jakarta by his manager, flights to Singapore and Frankfurt and a stop in Romania where he feared being returned to Turkey. Department of Homeland Security officials, lawyers for the Oklahoma City Thunder and the players' union helped secure his return to the United States.
Kanter has previously accused Turkey’s president of severe wrongdoing, calling Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the "Hitler of our century" and reporting death threats and family reprisals; Turkey issued warrants, sought an Interpol Red Notice and moved to extradite him, and Kanter skipped NBA trips abroad, including a Knicks game in London. His father, Mehmet, was dismissed, detained and charged before being acquitted in 2020; Kanter became a U.S. citizen in 2021 and legally added Freedom to his name.
In recent weeks Kanter declared himself eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft, said he identified as a woman and posted workout videos about beginning his "transition," a step league sources described as a publicity stunt the WNBA would not "give oxygen" to and said would not make him eligible to play. The appearance at the Sky–Fever game drew amplification across conservative media and was reported as being embraced by elements of the MAGA right; Fox News carried the coverage, and the story prompted wide online reaction.
Late in the third quarter, Natasha Cloud approached Kanter, yelling and pointing; Kanter then stood, spread his arms and stepped onto the court before security intervened. As he was escorted away he stopped near the basket to argue and stretched out his shirt. Talking Points Memo reported that the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute promoted Kanter’s arrival, circulated footage of his ejection and began selling a $45 "Let Freedom Play" sweatshirt featuring him in a mock-up of the WNBA logo; an AFPI executive was seated a few rows behind him, and the organisation did not answer questions about whether it bought his courtside seat.
Kanter’s political profile includes attending the 2024 State of the Union as House speaker Mike Johnson’s guest and publicly stating he plans to run for Congress in 2028. His past activism includes marching with Black Lives Matter protesters in Boston in 2020, when he told the Guardian that athletes should use their platforms "to spread good, and to spread the truth," and in 2017 he said, "I try to be the voice of those innocent people."
The episode has intersected with rising interest in the WNBA: ESPN’s WNBA coverage is averaging 1.4m viewers, up 16% from the same point last season, a growth some commentators say has been overshadowed by the controversy. The author of the account wrote that the stunt may serve political purposes in the run-up to the November midterms while Kanter continues to cultivate a public and political profile that includes a stated congressional run in 2028.