Enes Kanter Freedom responds to Chicago Sky owner on ejection and ban, plans to sue

Enes Kanter Freedom suggested he will pursue legal action against the Chicago Sky and owner Michael Alter after Alter invoked shooting a gun as an "extreme example" while explaining why the former NBA center was ejected from Sunday's Sky vs. Fever game without a warning.

"I’m not talking about against the WNBA, but I think against Michael Alter and the Chicago Sky for sure," Freedom said. "Like, I don’t think they know what they’re talking about."

"Me and my legal team will definitely be taking actions against Chicago Sky and Michael Alter," he added.

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Freedom did not identify a specific legal cause of action or say when he plans to file a lawsuit.

Alter made the gun analogy during an exclusive interview with OutKick on Wednesday. He was responding to Freedom’s contention that security should have warned him before ejecting him from Sunday’s game between the Sky and Indiana Fever. Alter said Freedom was deemed a threat when he stepped toward the court, while waving his hands in the air and pointing at a player.

"He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings," Alter said. "To use an extreme example, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning, ‘Don’t do that again.’ Your action doesn’t deserve a warning. You take action that becomes a threat, you don’t get a warning."

Alter used the example to argue that security does not always need to issue a warning before responding to conduct it considers threatening.

Freedom nevertheless called the statement "unacceptable."

"I mean, he needs to check himself," Freedom said.

Alter announced Tuesday that the Sky had banned Freedom from future team games at Wintrust Arena. Alter said the ban could be reconsidered if Freedom proves to the team’s satisfaction that he can follow its rules without becoming a potential threat.

"They threw me out of the game," Freedom said. "They could’ve given me a warning and said, ‘Hey, next time we’re gonna throw you out.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, sure.’ But I didn’t do anything. I will still say I didn’t do anything wrong."

Freedom said he paid approximately $4,000 for the courtside tickets, and has requested a refund.

The dispute centers on Freedom’s movement during his third-quarter confrontation with Cloud.

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The WNBA Fan Code of Conduct states that guests who fight, throw objects or attempt to enter the court will be immediately ejected. Alter said security concluded that Freedom attempted to enter the court when he stood, extended his arms, pointed at Cloud and took a step toward the playing surface.

Footage shows security quickly approach Freedom and place a hand on him after he stepped forward.

Freedom insisted that he never intended to enter the court and that the step captured on video was his final movement.

"That was my last step," Freedom said. "I literally just got up and said — I was gonna stop there, but when NBA security came out and just put his hand on me, I’m like, ‘Listen, I’m not gonna get onto the court. I know better.’"

Freedom said he knew where the baseline was because of his 11 seasons in the NBA.

"If I step over the baseline, yes, they have every right to throw me out of the game," Freedom said. "But I know where the baseline was standing, so I did not even get close to the baseline. I literally just got up, take one step forward, which was not even close to the baseline. I literally simply opened my arms and said, ‘I’m here to protect women.’"

Alter acknowledged that he did not know whether Freedom crossed the baseline. He argued that security personnel did not need to wait for him to enter the court before intervening.

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"The security got there as quickly as they could and very fast, and they prevented it," Alter said. "I can’t tell you what his intent was beyond his actions. I don’t know what was in his head."

Freedom insisted he was not going to take another step.

"I’m telling you right now, I was not gonna take another step. I was gonna stop there," he said.

The WNBA Fan Code does not state that every spectator must be warned before ejection.

A warning provision appears in the 2026 WNBA Official Rule Book under "Verbal Fan Interference." That provision applies when a spectator’s verbal abuse interferes with a coach’s ability to communicate with players during a game or huddle.

The separate fan code provision concerning an attempted court entry calls for immediate ejection.

The confrontation involving Freedom occurred late in the third quarter. Freedom said he previously raised his hands to celebrate a shot by Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. He alleged that Cloud later turned toward him and said, "She’s not going to sleep with you."

Freedom said he responded on a later possession that he was not trying to sleep with Cunningham and was only there to support her and "protect women." He alleged that Cloud subsequently directed profanity toward him.

"She started to drop a lot of F-bombs, and she started to curse a lot, and she started to bark at me," Freedom said. "I’m like, ‘There are lots of kids and teenage girls in the stands idolizing you. This is unacceptable.’"

Alter said several nearby spectators independently told him that Freedom initiated the verbal interaction by directing basketball-related trash talk at Cloud earlier in the third quarter.

Freedom denied that account.

"Beginning of the game, I did not say a word to her," Freedom said. "I did not say a word to her."

Alter acknowledged that he had no audio of the alleged earlier trash talk and could not provide Freedom’s exact words. Alter said a woman sitting behind Freedom also said she did not hear him say anything to Cloud, although Alter argued that her position and the arena noise could have prevented her from hearing comments directed toward the court.

Freedom said Cloud should be fined and required to review the league’s player-conduct rules.

"I think she should definitely get fined, and I think she should definitely have a conversation with the WNBPA, the player association union, to go over the rules one more time," Freedom said.

The WNBA rulebook permits officials to assess a technical foul without warning for conduct considered detrimental to a game. It lists profanity and taunting among unsportsmanlike tactics. However, the publicly disclosed evidence does not establish Cloud’s exact words, whether officials heard any alleged profanity or whether her actions required an automatic suspension.

Alter acknowledged that Cloud and Freedom went "back and forth" but repeatedly declined to discuss whether the Sky had reviewed or would discipline her.

"Her role in this has nothing to do with our decision and how we handle Mr. Freedom," Alter said during Wednesday’s interview. "I’m not here to talk to you about Natasha Cloud."

Freedom reacted after listening to that exchange.

"Give the answer the people want," Freedom said. "Of course, obviously, as an owner, he’s gonna try to do whatever he can to protect his player, but she should be disciplined for sure."

OutKick reached out to the Sky for comment.

Freedom said he believes his shirt and recent announcement that he intends to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft contributed to the confrontation. His shirt defined a woman as an "adult human female." Alter said Wednesday that "nobody cared" about the shirt.

"I am not anti-trans, I'm not anti-LGBTQ, I’m just pro-woman," Freedom said. "In this country we have First Amendment, freedom of speech, right? And I simply went to the game with my shirt on."

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Freedom has argued that the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement restricts eligibility to women without defining the term according to biological sex. He said he would abandon his planned draft effort if the agreement explicitly limited eligibility to biological females.

Although the CBA restricts eligibility to women without further defining the term, multiple media outlets have reported that Freedom and fellow former NBA player Royce White are not eligible for the draft.

Freedom said neither the ejection nor the ban would stop his effort.

Asked whether he still intended to pursue a WNBA roster spot if the eligibility language remained unchanged, Freedom answered plainly:

"I’m doing it."

Freedom might not be alone either, according to him. He claims he's been talking with a total of eight male basketball players, three from NBA G-League, three from European leagues and two who used to play in the NBA, and those eight players are considering following his lead and declaring for the WNBA Draft.

"They have no idea what kind of door that they're going to be opening, right? All these players in G League, they're only making $45,000 a year. All they have to do, right, just come out and say, 'I identify as a woman,' and they will be making $1.4 million, because that's what the top WNBA players does. So it's really that, that simple," Freedom said.

"But the thing is, the league is okay with it. The players are okay with it. The coaches are okay with it. They're okay with us, biological males, coming to the league and taking their job, taking their money, taking everything that they have built, taking their endorsement deals. They're okay with it. They're advocating for it. So if they're okay with it, why not do it? So I'ma just go out there and do it."

When asked if he has any concerns about the other players and their supposed ambitions to play in the WNBA "getting out of hand," Freedom defended their right to pursue playing in the W, and placed onus on the league.

"They have every right to do it because of the rules," he said.

"If whoever out there, right, a G Leaguer or a European or a former NBA player comes out and put a, puts a wig on and makes fun of a certain group, it's not their fault. It's the WNBA's fault for allowing them to make fun of certain groups. So I'm not blaming any players. I am blaming the commissioner and the task force of the WNBA."

But according to him, all it would take to put an end to this is a one-word change in the WNBA rulebook.

"What will stop me? I think just to, just to add a simple word, Article 13, Section 1. All you have to do, just add that the word biological, and then the case will be closed."