Enes Kanter Freedom, ejected from a WNBA game last month after a verbal dispute with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud, filed a lawsuit on Thursday in connection with the incident, alleging a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Defendants in the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, include the Sky, the city of Chicago and the owner of Wintrust Arena where the Aug. 23 game was played, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
Kanter Freedom, a 34-year-old former NBA journeyman, has been vocal this summer regarding the WNBA’s nebulous policy regarding the potential eligibility of transgender players. Last month, he declared himself a candidate for the 2027 WNBA Draft.
On Aug. 23, Kanter Freedom attended the Sky’s game against the visiting Indiana Fever wearing a shirt that read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female.” During the third quarter of the game, Cloud and Kanter Freedom got into a yelling match. Kanter Freedom was removed from the arena, and the Sky subsequently announced that he was banned indefinitely from attending the team’s games.
In the lawsuit, Kanter Freedom alleges that Cloud “without provocation, initiated a vulgar, profanity-laced verbal tirade” toward him. Cloud “charged nearly half the length of the court toward where Plaintiff Freedom was sitting courtside,” per the lawsuit. “Cloud cursed and yelled at Plaintiff saying that (Indiana guard Sophie) Cunningham was not going to sleep with Plaintiff Freedom.
“Plaintiff Freedom believes that Cloud’s attack was motivated and triggered by the message on Plaintiff’s shirt and Plaintiff’s widely publicized viewpoint on protecting the integrity of women only sports.”
Cunningham has stated that the WNBA should not include players who are “biological men.” Cloud is noted for being in favor of LGBTQ+ rights.
Kanter Freedom wrote Thursday on social media, “My T-shirt did what the whole WNBA apparently couldn’t: define a woman. No threats. No violence. Just biology. And somehow, that required a security escort.
“You don’t have to agree with my speech but you don’t get to silence me for it. I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will continue to stand for women and defend free speech.”
–Field Level Media
