Enes Kanter Freedom will no longer be allowed to attend Chicago Sky home games following his controversial ejection from Sunday’s matchup against the Indiana Fever.
Sky owner Michael Alter announced the decision Tuesday, saying the former NBA center is banned from Wintrust Arena for the team’s games unless he can convince the organization he will follow its rules.
Freedom will remain banned “unless sometime in the future he’s able to prove to us to our satisfaction that he is able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat,” Alter said, according to the Associated Press.
The incident unfolded late in the third quarter Sunday, when Sky guard Natasha Cloud approached Freedom following a basket.
Freedom, who was sitting courtside along the baseline, was wearing a shirt that read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
Cloud began yelling and pointing toward Freedom before the six-foot-10 former NBA player stood up, held out his arms and stepped onto the court. Security personnel and several Sky players quickly moved between the two.
Alter believes Freedom’s actions were intended to provoke a reaction.
“It was pretty clear to us that his purpose of coming here was trying to be provocative and just see how much attention he could get and stir up and create,” Alter said, according to the Associated Press.
Freedom was subsequently escorted away from the court. While leaving, he stopped near the basket, displayed the message on his shirt and encouraged the crowd to react before eventually exiting the arena.
He later addressed the ejection on social media.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN!” Freedom wrote. “Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
The confrontation comes amid an ongoing debate surrounding transgender eligibility in the WNBA.
Freedom and fellow former NBA player Royce White have both declared for the WNBA draft while saying they identify as women. However, neither is eligible for the draft, according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke anonymously to the Associated Press.
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that the league is restricted to women but does not contain more specific eligibility language regarding gender identity or sex assigned at birth. No transgender woman has ever played in the WNBA.
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