Natasha Cloud posts pro-transgender message after Enes Kanter Freedom ejected from Wintrust Arena

A confrontation between Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud and activist and former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom at Chicago's Wintrust Arena on Sunday ended with Freedom's ejection from the building and a pro-transgender statement from Cloud posted to Threads that night. The Sky lost to the Indiana Fever. What the two said to each other on the court was not immediately clear.

The incident began in the third quarter. Cloud scored, the Fever called a timeout, and Cloud directed her emotion toward Freedom, who was seated near the basket at court level. Freedom rose and walked toward her. Sky players and security moved between the two before Freedom was escorted from the arena and barred from returning.

Freedom had come to the game after publicly saying he wanted to compete in the WNBA. Players and coaches across the league have spoken out in recent months about transgender athletes in women's and girls' sports. He entered Wintrust Arena that afternoon wearing a T-shirt that defined "woman" as "adult human female" and was berated by fans as he walked in. It was his first WNBA game.

After his removal, Freedom posted twice to X. He wrote that he had been "kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN" and asked America to "let that sink in." A separate post: "It's always women hating on other women."

Cloud did not appear at the Sky's postgame media availability. On Threads, she wrote to transgender people: "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."

What to watch is any formal response from the WNBA or the Chicago Sky on Freedom's ejection.