Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom has been banned from future Chicago Sky home games after a confrontation with guard Natasha Cloud led to his ejection from Sunday’s game.
Sky owner Michael Alter told local reporters on Tuesday that Freedom would not be allowed to attend the team’s games at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena unless he was first “able to prove to our satisfaction that he is able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat.”
“He has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat,” Alter said.
“The fact that we’re having this conversation to me is just really sad,” Alter continued. “It’s a shame that we’re spending as much time as we are on this and not the wonderful things that are happening in our league — or even some of the not-so-wonderful things, like the Sky not making the playoffs for the third year in a row. I’m sure those are the things we should be talking about.”
Alter accused Freedom of attending the game to provoke a reaction and attract attention.
“It was pretty clear to us that his purpose of coming here was trying to be provocative, to see how much attention he could get and stir up,” Alter said.
Alter added that he interviewed people seated near Freedom who told him that Freedom initiated the exchange by directing basketball-related trash talk at Cloud.
Freedom, who attended the game wearing a shirt reading “WOMAN. Noun. Adult human female,” claimed that he’d attended the game to support Indiana Fever shooting guard Sophie Cunningham, who’s been the target of protests since she declared her stance on defending biological females and girls in athletics. Sunday’s confrontation came after he raised both arms in celebration of a Cunningham three-pointer.
He said that during the next possession, Cloud approached the baseline where he was seated and shouted at him, saying that Cunningham was never going to sleep with him. Freedom, who said that Cunningham is just a friend, stood up and stepped toward the court — but a number of players and officials stepped between him and Cloud, and he was escorted from the arena before things could escalate further.
After a brief conversation with security, Freedom left the venue.
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