Enes Kanter and Pablo Torre
Aug 23, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Turkish-American former basketball player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is seen prior to a game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
Former NBA player Enes Freedom Kanter made headlines earlier this month after declaring himself eligible for the WNBA Draft as a transgender woman, making a mockery of the league’s gender policy. Kanter took things even further on Sunday night, getting himself escorted out of the crowd at a WNBA game on Sunday night, and he received some thorough criticism afterward.
In the aftermath of Kanter’s ejection from Sunday night’s game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky, prominent sports journalist and commentator Pablo Torre offered some scathing words for Kanter.
Kanter Ejected
During Sunday evening’s game, Kanter was sitting courtside in a black T-shirt featuring the message: “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” when he and Cloud became involved in a heated exchange late in the third quarter.
As the quarter wound down, Cloud began making her way toward Kanter Freedom while shouting in his direction. Kanter stood with his arms extended and stepped toward the court before security personnel intervened and escorted him from the arena.
Kanter then pumped his fist and appeared to mock Cloud by making a talking motion with his hand. As he continued toward the exit, he waved his arms toward the crowd before pulling out his shirt to once again display its message.
i’ve never been more certain of anything than my guess that enes kanter was the YOUR MOM SAID YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITH ME kid in his neighborhood https://t.co/k4kq7QlXAR
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) August 24, 2026
‘Insanely Pathetic’
While Kanter received some heavy criticism throughout the sports media world, the criticism from Pablo Torre was especially scathing, as Torre labeled his actions “insanely pathetic.”
“I think we can all agree that stepping out toward the baseline in the middle of a WNBA game, getting ejected on purpose, and immediately claiming to be a victim is insanely pathetic,” Torre wrote in a post on X.
Torre received some pushback from right-wing sports commentator Clay Travis, who asked him to define what a woman is.
“A category where >99% of the people were born with a vagina. And the other <1% are being used as bait to distract from the most financially corrupt regime in U.S. history,” Torre responded.
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