Indiana Fever v Chicago Sky
Natasha Cloud with Chicago Sky teammate DiJonai Carrington during Sunday’s game against the Indiana Fever.
Unfortunately, the right-wing meltdown about whether trans women should play in the WNBA is still going. Five weeks after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham used an ESPN profile to say she wants to protect women from playing against “biological men,” former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom got into a verbal courtside altercation with the Chicago Sky’s Natasha Cloud. He was promptly ejected from his seat.
Many of us had not heard of Freedom before early August, when he followed up Cunningham’s comments with the announcement that he was declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft in an obnoxious attempt to make a point about the league’s gender-inclusion policies. He continued his crusade on Sunday, sitting courtside in Chicago wearing a black T-shirt that read “Woman: noun. Adult human female” as the Fever played the Chicago Sky. Late in the third quarter, after scoring a contentious lay-up and forcing the Fever to take a timeout, Cloud started to point and yell at Freedom. As he started pointing back and walking onto the court, Cloud’s teammates made a protective huddle around her, and Freedom was escorted out of the game by security to boos.
Cloud did not talk to the media after the game, but Sky head coach Tyler Marsh supported her during the press conference. “I talked to the team and Tash didn’t want to feel like she was a distraction,” he said. “I told her she wasn’t. I told her we all embrace her as someone who protects our team and people who need to be protected. Tash is always gonna stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”
Meanwhile, Cloud went to social media to make it crystal clear where she stands. “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,” she wrote.
It’s been an exhausting few months for WNBA fans, who have been forced to watch as the league — historically a safe place for queer women — becomes a target for anti-trans trolls like Freedom. With all the new critical eyes on the league, other players and coaches, including Breanna Stewart and Gabby Williams, have gone out of their way to openly support trans women both inside and outside of the league. Maybe Kanter Freedom should keep that in mind the next time he scores a courtside seat.