Enes Kanter Freedom Natasha Cloud
Image credit - Flickr/ Stephen Bradley/Hannah Kevorkian | The Next
The Indiana Fever were pulling away from the Chicago Sky in a game that would ultimately seal Chicago’s playoff elimination. Instead, the highlight of the night had nothing to do with the scoreboard. It was a moment involving Enes Kanter Freedom that defined the night.
With 1:22 left in the third quarter, Sky guard Natasha Cloud scored inside and drew a timeout from Fever coach Stephanie White. Cloud then turned toward the baseline, locked eyes on former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom seated courtside, and walked straight at him. She pointed, she yelled. Kanter Freedom stood up, arms spread wide, and stepped toward the court. Security and several Sky players moved in fast. Within minutes, Kanter Freedom was escorted out of the arena to a cascade of boos.
Kanter Freedom had arrived wearing a black shirt reading “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” and had participated in a pro-Sophie Cunningham rally outside Wintrust before tip-off. He had declared himself eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft in early August, claiming he identifies as a woman, alongside fellow former NBA player Royce White. The league denounced both declarations as bad-faith efforts.
Natasha Cloud has words with Enes Kanter and he gets ejected from Wintrust Arena. pic.twitter.com/YkL2CRimbg
— Chicago State of Mind Sports (@ChiStateOfMind_) August 24, 2026
In the Wintrust lobby, Kanter Freedom argued his case to arena officials and Chicago police officers.
“I’m supporting women, and that is the reason they’re kicking me out,” he said. “*It’s unacceptable.*”
He later posted on X, “*I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!*”
Cloud finished the game with a team-high 16 points and seven assists in the Sky’s 113-90 loss. She met with team and league security after the final buzzer but did not speak to reporters. Following the game, she made a statement on social media, writing, “*To every trans kid/person, You are apart of MY community and tribe. You belong. You’re loved. You’re seen. You’re perfect as you are. And you will always be protected by me.*”
This is not the first time Cloud and Kanter Freedom have crossed paths publicly. In 2023, Cloud posted on X that “our country is trash in so many ways” following a pair of Supreme Court rulings. Kanter Freedom responded by offering to buy her a ticket to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, or Turkey. Sunday’s confrontation was the physical extension of a three-year-old grievance.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh made his position clear without hesitation. Marsh said Cloud was worried about being a distraction, but he pushed back on that framing entirely.
“I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said. “*I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects the people that need to be protected. Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.*”
When asked about Kanter Freedom attending the game, Marsh said, “*If you come to a game, you should probably come to enjoy the basketball. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that, too.*”
What The Natasha Cloud-Enes Kanter Freedom Flashpoint Means For A League Already Under Siege
Fever star Caitlin Clark put up 37 points and 10 assists, her fourth 30-point, 10-assist game of the season, in a win that snapped Indiana’s two-game skid. The Fever also set a franchise record with 18 three-pointers, and Clark canned a career-high eight of them. None of that led the conversation. Fever coach Stephanie White tried to redirect.
“I think it’s important that people in this room don’t give it any gas,” White said. “*It’s a social media thing.*”
White is not wrong about the mechanics. But the WNBA is past the point where restraint from coaches stops the cycle. The league has no public policy on transgender athlete eligibility. Its collective bargaining agreement states only that “players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” with no further definition.
Cloud did not back down Sunday, and the Sky organization stood behind her without qualification. But the deeper question now is whether the WNBA itself will give players like Cloud a clearer policy to stand on, or continue to leave them to handle these confrontations courtside, alone, while the game is still going on.