Enes Kanter Freedom ejected after confrontation with Natasha Cloud at WNBA game
Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night’s Indiana Fever v Chicago Sky WNBA game at Wintrust Arena after he was confronted by Chicago guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.
The incident followed a timeout called by the Fever with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter after Cloud scored inside. Cloud, 34, chest-bumped teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning and walking toward Kanter, 34, and began yelling and pointing in his direction while Kanter sat along the baseline wearing a black shirt that read “WOMAN. Noun. Adult human female.”
A standing Kanter held his arms out and took one step onto the court as security personnel and a handful of Sky players moved between him and Cloud. Security escorted Kanter from the court area and the on-court sequence continued while the game finished.
“There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we’re just going to focus on the game,” Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky’s 113-90 loss.
Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction and defended her actions. “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.”
As he was led away, Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security, then spun around holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby. He spoke with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena.
“I didn’t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle,” Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, “so I think that’s probably a question for Chicago.” Cloud met with team and league security after the game and did not speak with the media.
The episode came amid wider debate about transgender participation in the WNBA; the league has never had a transgender player and its collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women but contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports. Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.
“If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball,” Marsh added when asked if he had a message for Kanter, “and 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.”