Enes Kanter Freedom has filed a lawsuit against the WNBA’s Chicago Sky after it ejected and banned him from the Wintrust Arena following an altercation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
The lawsuit, which Enes filed in U.S. District Court, said that he was “peacefully exercising my First Amendment rights” as he watched the game while wearing a shirt that read, “WOMAN noun, adult human female,” per Fox News.
Freedom’s lawsuit names Chicago Women’s Basketball Operations, LLC, which operates the Sky, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), which financed and built Wintrust Arena as a public project, and the City of Chicago as defendants, claiming they “combined and conspired, and acted jointly to execute their conspiracy, to discriminate against Plaintiff based on Plaintiff’s verbal and demonstrable expression of viewpoint and gender identity when they wrongfully ejected Plaintiff from a recent WNBA game.”
Beyond the ejection, the lawsuit further alleged that the subsequent ban “exacerbated Plaintiff’s injuries.”
“Plaintiff has been the target of a torrent of hateful attacks and discriminatory actions based on Plaintiff’s viewpoint and gender identity,” the lawsuit read.
The incident occurred in August when Cloud was seen yelling toward Enes Kanter-Freedom, who was sitting courtside. When Freedom stepped toward the floor, security intervened and escorted him out amid a torrent of boos. Take a look:
Michael Alter, owner of the Chicago Sky, announced the ban, saying that Enes had demonstrated he was a potential “threat.”
“He has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat,” Alter said.
Alter added that the confrontation began after Freedom started “chirping” at Cloud in the third quarter.
“He began to chirp with her in the third quarter,” Alter said. “I would characterize it as trash-talking, nothing personal. Basketball-related, but enough to get her attention, engage her, and in my opinion, to try to provoke her.”
Speaking to Outkick, Freedom denied antagonizing Cloud.
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate,” Freedom said. “Literally, a couple of possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’
“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,’” he added.
“I was cheering for my friend Sophie because when she shot that three, I put my hands in the air. A couple possessions later, she came back and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ And I was shocked. I was like, ‘Listen, I’m not trying to sleep with her. I think she’s awesome. She’s a good friend.’ But I think it has a lot to do with my shirt.”