Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday’s Women’s NBA match between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever after becoming involved in a verbal altercation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Sitting at courtside, Kanter Freedom stood up with his arms outstretched and took steps towards the court after Cloud began pointing and shouting at him during a timeout.
Kanter Freedom was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “WOMAN noun. Adult human female.”.
Earlier this month, he declared he would enter next season’s WNBA Draft, citing the current eligibility guidelines, or lack of, for transgender women players.
Security and other Sky players intervened, before former Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics centre Kanter Freedom was escorted from the court.
He posted on X, external: “I just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
Writing on Threads, external 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 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.”