The Chicago Sky insist Enes Kanter Freedom’s removal from Wintrust Arena had nothing to do with exercising free speech during an interaction with player Natasha Cloud, and they plan to prove it. Owner Michael Alter answered Freedom’s recent federal lawsuit filing by calling it “meritless and frivolous.”
Freedom originally filed suit on September 4th in US District Court after the Sky ejected him from its game against the Indiana Fever. The team also banned him indefinitely from any future home games.
What Led to Enes Kanter Freedom’s WNBA Lawsuit?
The ex-NBA player wore an anti-trans athlete shirt reading “WOMAN noun. adult human female” at the matchup, subsequently getting into a verbal exchange with Cloud. Then, WNBA security escorted him out after he began to approach the court and other Sky players.
His suit names the Sky’s parent company, arena, and city of Chicago as defendants. Freedom alleges all three conspired to punish his freedom of speech.
“As his own complaint acknowledges, he wore the shirt in question for multiple hours without any contact with security,” Alter said. “Freedom was removed for his conduct, not his speech.”
However, Cloud took it a step beyond that.
Natasha Cloud Addresses Enes Kanter Freedom Controversy
The Sky guard called the anti-trans athlete activist “an irrelevant person” and urged the WNBA to follow Chicago’s lead by instituting a league-wide ban.
Rather than re-litigate the confrontation, though, she urged the media to focus on what she called the real threats facing women: domestic violence, sexual assault, and lack of healthcare access.
“It is an intentional distraction,” Cloud said of the growing debate around banning transgender athletes from women’s sports.