Enes Kanter Freedom ejected from WNBA game after courtside row with Natasha Cloud

Former NBA centre Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected on Sunday from the WNBA game between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena after becoming involved in a verbal confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.

Kanter Freedom was sitting courtside when Cloud began pointing and shouting at him during a timeout, prompting him to stand up with his arms outstretched and take steps toward the court; he was wearing a T-shirt reading "WOMAN noun. Adult human female." Earlier this month he said he would enter next season's WNBA Draft, citing the current eligibility guidelines for transgender women players.

Security personnel and several Sky players moved in during the exchange and Kanter Freedom, the former Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics centre, was escorted from the arena.

After leaving the court he posted on X: "I just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!" Writing on Threads after the game, Cloud said: "To every trans kid/person, you are apart of MY community & tribe. You belong. You're loved. You're seen. You're perfect as you are & you will always be protected by me."

Kanter Freedom reportedly spoke with police officers before exiting Chicago's Wintrust Arena. The Indiana Fever won the match 113-90. "There's so many good things about this league and so many good things about the play of these players, that if you come to a game, you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," said Sky head coach Tyler Marsh. "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."

The incident forms part of a wider controversy around the WNBA after Saturday's Sky win over the Golden State Valkyries was interrupted when sex toys were thrown onto the court; similar disruptions affected six matches last season in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles. USA Today reported the same group responsible for last year's incidents has said it will continue to disrupt WNBA games to protest the league's policy on transgender athletes.

The WNBA collective bargaining agreement states: "Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA." There are no transgender athletes currently competing in the league, and USA Today said recent comments from Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham — who played in Sunday's match in Chicago — have questioned the current rules.