Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky yell at one another during a game against the Indiana Fever.
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky yell at one another during a game against the Indiana Fever.
Tensions boiled over after Enes Kanter Freedom’s latest pot-stirring actions saw him ejected from the arena while attending a WNBA game on Sunday.
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Freedom had been sitting courtside in Chicago for the game between the Indiana Fever and Sky when the former NBA player got into a heated exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud during the third quarter.
Cloud and Freedom began arguing after a play and the two had to separated by officials, teammates and security before the former NBA player was escorted from the arena.
Enes Kanter GOT INTO IT with a WNBA player and was KICKED OUT the arena 😳 pic.twitter.com/DCBhO8ZPhD
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) August 24, 2026
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While it’s unclear from video of the incident what words were exchanged, Kanter claimed later in an interview that Cloud used some colourful language and said that Sophie Cunningham wasn’t “gonna sleep with you.”
What did Enes Freedom say?
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you,'” Freedom told Outkick.
“And I was like, ‘I am not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.’ And then, obviously, after that, she started yapping, and she started to walk towards me, and literally I just got up, and then I was like, ‘I’m just here to protect women, and that’s all.’
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom watches Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever courtside during a game against the Chicago Sky. Getty Images
“She started to yell. She started to use some very heavy language. She started to actually cuss and I was very shocked that there were a lot of kids and that there were a lot of teenagers at that game.
“I just cannot believe that she was just cussing and using those F-bombs in front of all these kids. I’m sure she’s loved in Chicago and many kids are idolizing her and stuff, but that’s not how a WNBA athlete should react.”
What is Enes Freedom doing?
Freedom, who played 11 seasons in the NBA for five different teams, has inserted himself into the ongoing debate over transgender athletes. The topic has been a hot-button issue since Cunningham — one of the league’s most popular and outspoken players — broached the subject during an interview with ESPN last month.
Earlier this month, Freedom — as well as fellow former NBA player Royce White — declared himself for next year’s WNBA draft, as the league’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but there is no further definition of a woman or any publicly available policy governing transgender or intersex athlete eligibility.
While attending the game in Chicago, Freedom was wearing a shirt that read: “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
It’s halftime and I need to use the restroom…🚺
Rules are rules @WNBA 🤷🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/4MoAEzKmys
— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) August 24, 2026
Freedom also posted on X a picture next to a women’s restroom and a caption reading: “It’s halftime and I need to use the restroom…
“Rules are rules WNBA.”
Video taken in the arena’s lobby showed Freedom arguing with uniformed police officers, saying: “I’m supporting women and that is the reason they are kicking me out. It is unacceptable.”