RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night\u0027s Indiana-Chicago WNBA game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter. Freedom was sitting along the baseline. He had on a black shirt that read "WOMAN noun. adult human female." The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Kanter\u0027s direction. Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter, 34, as she approached him. Video showed a standing Kanter holding his arms out and taking one step on the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two."There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we\u0027re just going to focus on the game," Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky\u0027s 113-90 loss. Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the team. "I told her she wasn\u0027t," Marsh said. "I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash." Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby. He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena. "I didn\u0027t see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle," Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, "so I think that\u0027s probably a question for Chicago." The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women \u2014 people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity \u2014 should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA. Although the league\u0027s collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls\u0027 and women\u0027s sports. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women. Kanter, a native of Turkey who became a U.S. citizen in 2021, joined a small rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before the game. Asked if he had a message for Kanter, Marsh praised the league and its players. "If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," he said, "and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too." Cloud did not speak with the media after Sunday\u0027s game, CBS Sports reported. She later made a statement on social media.\u00a0"To every trans kid/person, You are apart of MY community & tribe. You belong. You\u0027re loved. You\u0027re seen. You\u0027re perfect as you are. & you will always be protected by me," Cloud wrote.\u00a0This is not the first time Cloud and Kanter Freedom have crossed paths. In 2023, the two went\u00a0back and forth on social media\u00a0after Cloud criticized the U.S. government. \u00a0
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