Enes Kanter Freedom breaks silence on Natasha Cloud clash after WNBA ejection
Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from the WNBA matchup after a late altercation with Natasha Cloud
Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from the Indiana-Chicago WNBA game on Sunday night after being confronted by Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.
After the ejection from the game, Freedom opened up about the provocation. According to Freedom, he was sitting baseline at Wintrust Arena and the confrontation occurred after his celebration of a 3-pointer by Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
Freedom said, "Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ The yelling prompted security and players to step in.
He continued, "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.’"
Even the footage of incidents showed how Cloud walked towards him and yelled at him. On the other hand, the former NBA player stood, extended his arms and took a step onto the court, but at that time security personnel stepped in.
"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 added.
Freedom was escorted out of Wintrust Arena while encouraging the crowd before speaking briefly with police officers.
At the time of confrontation, Freedom was wearing a black shirt that read, "WOMAN noun. adult human female." And he believed that this led to such an incident.
"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."
Natasha Cloud met with team and league security after the game and did not speak to the media.
Chicago coach Tyler Marsh defended Cloud, stating the team embraces her for protecting people, while Sky forward Azura Stevens referred to it as a "fan incident" handled by security.
However, after the game Cloud wrote a message on Threads, “"To every trans kid/person, You are a part 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."
