EXCLUSIVE: Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom said Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud made a vulgar remark toward him and repeatedly cursed before security removed him from Sunday night’s game against the Indiana Fever.
Freedom, who was sitting near the baseline at Wintrust Arena, said the confrontation began after he celebrated a 3-pointer by Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate,” Freedom said. “Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’
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“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.’”
Video of the incident showed Cloud walking toward Freedom, yelling and pointing at him late in the third quarter. Freedom stood, extended his arms and took a step onto the court as security and Sky players moved between them.
Freedom said Cloud then began using profanity in front of young fans.
“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,” Freedom said.
“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.”
The confrontation came with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter, after Cloud scored inside and celebrated with teammate Aicha Coulibaly. Cloud then turned and approached Freedom, who was wearing a black shirt that read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
He said he believes the shirt contributed to Cloud’s reaction.
“I was cheering for my friend Sophie because when she shot that three, I put my hands in the air,” Freedom said. “A couple possessions later, she came back and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ And I was shocked. I was like, ‘Listen, I’m not trying to sleep with her. I think she’s awesome. She’s a good friend.’ But I think it has a lot to do with my shirt.
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“I was obviously wearing a shirt explaining what a woman is, and I think that had a lot to do with what she thinks about women. I think it triggered her a lot.”
OutKick reached out to Cloud’s rep for further comment. She wasn’t made available during the team’s postgame press conference.
Cloud sent a message to the trans community after the game, in a post on Threads.
“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,” Cloud wrote.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh defended Cloud after the game, telling reporters, “We all embrace her as someone who protects our team and protects people who need to be protected.”
However, Freedom insists the words exchanged with Cloud had nothing to do with the issue of transgender people or his plans to compete in the WNBA.
“Definitely not,” Freedom said of the interaction being related at all to those issues.
Still, even without directly invoking the debate overshadowing the WNBA right now, Freedom was ordered out of the arena.
He said security approached him and ordered him to leave without providing an explanation.
“I was like, ‘Can you please tell me why I need to leave?’ They said, ‘Look, you just need to leave,’” Freedom said. “They pretty much pushed me to leave the gym.”
Footage showed arena staff touching Freedom and sharing intense words with him as he was being escorted out. Freedom said he asked an arena employee not to touch him as he was escorted away from the court.
“I told her, ‘First of all, please don’t touch me because I didn’t do anything wrong. I can get myself out of the game,’” he said. “And the second, I was like, ‘Do you guys realize that you guys are only kicking me out of this game because I support women and I try to protect women?’”
Freedom said security again declined to give him a reason for his removal.
“They were like, ‘Listen, we can’t give you any reason right now. Just leave, please,’” he said. “I played 11 years of basketball in the NBA, and I know how tough the security’s job can get. So I didn’t want to make their job even tougher.”
OutKick reached out to the Sky and Wintrust Arena for comment.
The Sky had advanced notice that Freedom would be coming to the game, according to him. He said his manager had notified Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca before the game that he planned to attend.
“My manager texted the GM of the Chicago Sky,” Freedom said. “We texted him and said, ‘Hey, just so you know, we are coming to the game. We’re not here to cause any kind of drama. We’re not here to cause anything bad. We are just here to watch the game and leave in peace.’ My manager texted the GM, and he said, ‘Enjoy the game.’ That’s it.”
The Fever defeated the Sky 113-90. Clark scored 37 points, while Kelsey Mitchell added 30.
Earlier in the night, Freedom attended a rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before the game. Cunningham has faced protests and counterprotests since saying she opposes transgender girls and women competing in female sports divisions.
Freedom announced earlier this month that he intends to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft. He has said he is using the league’s rules to challenge the WNBA to clarify its eligibility standards.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it does not publicly define the term or establish specific eligibility requirements for transgender athletes. No transgender woman is known to have played in the league.
After Freedom and former NBA player Royce White announced their intentions to enter the draft, the WNBA said its anti-hate task force had discussed transgender athletes and online attacks against players.
“There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others,” the league said in its Aug. 12 statement.
Freedom rejected the characterization of his campaign as anti-transgender or anti-LGBTQ.
“I want to make that very clear because, unfortunately, many media organizations and many journalists are making me look like I am anti-trans or anti-LGBTQ,” he said. “That is wrong. I respect anyone’s personal decision, and I do respect any kind of group out there.”
Freedom said the confrontation with Cloud has now made him more determined to pursue a place in the league, especially so he can play her.
“If anything, I’m more pumped up,” he said. “I cannot wait to go against Natasha now. I think it will be fun for me if I get drafted by any other team. I don’t think Chicago will select me. We know that now. But any other team, I just cannot wait to go against her.”
Freedom said he has not heard from the WNBA since announcing his plans. He offered to speak directly with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
“If the commissioner of the WNBA wants to sit down and have a conversation with me, I am open to do that as well,” Freedom said. “I respect everybody, and I would like to listen to everybody and see what their perspective is.”
Sunday marked Freedom’s first time attending a WNBA game in person, although he regularly watched the league during his NBA career.
“I’m obviously a huge fan of basketball, a huge fan of women’s basketball, and I was there to watch the game,” Freedom said. “I watched on TV so many times, obviously, but I think this was my first WNBA game ever.”
He added that he had never spoken with Cloud before the confrontation. Despite their exchange, he praised the veteran guard’s ability and influence on the court.
“I think she’s an excellent player,” Freedom said. “I don’t really know what she does off the court, so I can’t really speak about it. But I think on the court, she makes herself better and she makes everyone else better around her, and I think that’s a very special player.”
After leaving the arena, Freedom said he encountered a young girl and her mother while preparing to eat dinner. He said their interaction became the most emotional part of his night.
“One of those little girls came with her mother, and then her mother said, ‘Thank you for what you’re doing for my little daughter,’” Freedom said. “I think that was the most emotional part of the whole night.”
Freedom said the interaction reinforced his belief that the dispute should not be viewed through a strictly partisan lens.
“This is not a right or left issue,” he said. “People need to understand this is not a political issue. This is just common sense. People are trying to make me look like I’m taking a political stance. People are wrong.”
Golden State Valkyries player Gabby Williams is the reason Freedom is now pursuing the WNBA, according to him, after a resurfaced clip of Williams saying she would welcome a trans player in the WNBA went viral earlier this month. Freedom confirmed that clip of Williams is what inspired him to declare for the WNBA Draft.
“If they don’t come up with a rule, then I am ready and prepared to play in May and just get ready for the draft in April,” Freedom said. “These are the rules. People are mad at me. I’m confused why people are mad at me. These are the rules that literally they put, so I’m just literally following their rules.”
And the 6-foot-10 former center intends to play well beyond just one season if the league allows it.
“I’m 34 now, and I can go out there and dunk everything,” Freedom said. “I watched the game tonight. I feel like every time I touch the ball, I can dunk everything, so the physical advantage obviously is there. I think I can play till 40, 45. I don’t even think there is a limit, as long as I want.”
When asked whether he would feel guilty competing against women or entering a WNBA locker room, Freedom said he would not.
“Why would I?” he said. “These are the rules that they set, and I’m just following their rules. All these players, all these coaches and the league itself advocated and encouraged this whole thing. You see all these players come out and say, ‘I will welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team.’ And the same thing with coaches. You see all these T-shirts that they’re wearing. So, because of that, I would not feel any guilt.”
Freedom identified the Fever as his preferred destination and said he would like to play alongside Clark.
“I think we need to bring back the modern-day Kobe and Shaq, so I think I’m going with the Indiana Fever, for sure,” he said. “Me and Caitlin will be the modern-day Kobe and Shaq.”
White announced his own intention to enter the WNBA draft shortly after Freedom. Freedom said the two former NBA players have never spoken and are not coordinating their efforts.
“He is his own man. I’m doing my own thing,” Freedom said. “What Royce is doing is going to affect him, and what I’m doing is going to affect me. So we are two separate people. We’re doing our own thing, and I’m not affiliated with anyone.”
However, Freedom said other former professional players have privately expressed interest in following him. He claimed he was communicating with two former NBA players, three European players and three NBA G League players.
“You’ll be shocked, actually, other than one other player that already came out, how many other players I’m actually talking to right now,” Freedom said. “There are two former NBA players, three European players and three G League players that I’m currently talking to about this whole thing.”
Freedom said the G League players pointed to the potential financial incentive created by the WNBA’s new salary structure.
“The G League players said, ‘Listen, we are only making $45,000 a year. All we have to do is identify as a woman, and we will be making $1.4 million a year,’” Freedom said. “That’s almost a $1.3 million difference. So the WNBA has no idea what they’re about to face.”
But it hasn’t been all support since Freedom in recent weeks, as he revealed he’s received death threats and abusive messages since announcing his draft plans.
“I do get a lot of death threats and cuss words every day,” he said. “I really want people to understand I’m not doing this for any kind of political reasons. This is not a right or left issue. I’m only here to defend women.”
Freedom said he has not discussed his campaign with Cunningham or any other current WNBA player or coach. He said no one from the league has contacted him since his announcement, but he remains willing to engage directly with its leadership.
“I’m here to sit down and listen,” Freedom said. “If the commissioner or whoever wants to sit down and have a conversation with me about this whole thing, then I would love to sit down and hear her side.”
