Topline<\/p>\n
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night\u2019s game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky after a confrontation with WNBA player Natasha Cloud, in an incident that comes amid Kanter\u2019s recent mocking stance about transgender athletes by announcing he would \u201cdeclare\u201d for the 2027 WNBA Draft.<\/p>\n
Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom at the WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reservedKey Facts<\/p>\n
Kanter attended Sunday\u2019s game wearing a black shirt with the text \u201cWOMAN noun. adult human female.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the third quarter, after Cloud had scored for her team, she turned and walked towards where the former NBA player was seated, appearing to shout something and point at him.<\/p>\n
Kanter stood up from his seat and walked towards Cloud with his arms spread wide near courtside before security staff and other Chicago Sky players intervened.<\/p>\n
Kanter appeared to gesture at the crowd as he was forced by security to leave the arena.<\/p>\n
In a post on X<\/a>, the former NBA player wrote: \u201cI just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!\u201d<\/p>\n What Have Chicago Sky Players And Officials Said?<\/p>\n In her post-game interview<\/a>, Chicago\u2019s Azura Stevens was asked about the controversy, but she dismissed the matter, saying: \u201cThere was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we\u2019re just going to focus on the game.\u201d Sky coach Tyler Marsh backed Cloud when asked about the incident in the post-game press conference, saying<\/a>: \u201cI told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected.\u201d When asked if he had a message for Kanter and others like him, Marsh spoke about the \u201cgood things\u201d in the league and said: \u201cIf you come to a game, you should probably come to enjoy the basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n tangent<\/p>\n Indiana sailed to a 113-90 win against Chicago on Sunday, powered by Caitlin Clark\u2019s 37 points and Kelsey Mitchell\u2019s 30. With this loss, the Sky are now out of contention for a Playoff spot. When asked about the incident, Clark said, \u201cI didn\u2019t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle\u2026so I think that\u2019s probably a question for Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n further reading<\/p>\n