|


|
|
08/23/26 10:23:00
Printable Page
08/23 22:22 CDT Enes Kanter Freedom ejected from Fever-Sky game after he was
confronted by Sky's Cloud
Enes Kanter Freedom ejected from Fever-Sky game after he was confronted by
Sky's Cloud
By JAY COHEN
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO (AP) --- Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday
night's Indiana-Chicago WNBA game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha
Cloud late in the third quarter.
Freedom was sitting along the baseline. He had on a black shirt that read
"WOMAN noun. adult human female."
The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the
third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning
around and walking in Kanter's direction.
Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter, 34, as she approached him. A
standing Kanter held his arms out and took one step on the court as security
and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two.
"There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we're just
going to focus on the game," Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky's
113-90 loss.
Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction
for the team.
"I told her she wasn't," Marsh said. "I told her that we all embrace her as
someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected
and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash."
Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was
escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and
encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby.
He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust
Arena.
"I didn't see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle," Indiana
star Caitlin Clark said, "so I think that's probably a question for Chicago."
Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with
the media.
The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women
--- people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender
identity --- should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never
been such a player in the WNBA.
Although the league's collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is
restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender
identity or sex assigned at birth.
Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that
she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls' and women's
sports. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared
themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.
Kanter joined a small rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before
the game.
Asked if he had a message for Kanter, Marsh praised the league and its players.
"If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," he
said, "and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that
and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably
understand and feel that too."
___
See AP's full WNBA coverage here
|