(NEW YORK) — Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom was removed from a WNBA game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky on Sunday, following a verbal confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud.
Kanter Freedom wore a black T-shirt to Sunday’s game at Wintrust Arena in Chicago that read, “WOMAN: noun, adult human female.”
The shirt appeared to be a reference to the ongoing controversy over the WNBA’s approach to transgender players’ eligibility and comments from Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who told ESPN in a July interview that the league should block biological males from participation.
During a timeout in the third quarter of Sunday’s game, Cloud was seen approaching Kanter Freedom, who was sitting courtside, shouting and pointing at him. Kanter Freedom then stood with his arms extended and stepped toward the court, before security escorted him out of the arena.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!” Kanter Freedom wrote in a social media post afterward.
In a statement to ABC News on Monday, Kanter Freedom said he and Cloud had exchanged words after Cunningham scored a three-pointer, adding, “Then she started yapping and cursing at me then we got into it and they threw me out of the game.”
Kanter Freedom, who played in the NBA for 11 years, made headlines earlier this month after declaring his eligibility for the WNBA Draft in a social media post.
“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” he wrote at the time.
The WNBA’s current player eligibility guidelines, found in article XIII of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, state that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA.” The CBA does not include specific rules about transgender players.
Sources around the league told ABC News that Kanter Freedom, as well as Royce White, a former NBA player and Republican Senate candidate in Minnesota who also stated his intention to join the WNBA Draft earlier in August, are not eligible to play in the WNBA, calling their eligibility announcements a publicity stunt meant to sow division and draw attention.
Cloud did not speak to the media after Sunday’s game but shared her support for the transgender community on social media.
“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,” Cloud, a cisgender lesbian, wrote in a Threads post.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh supported Cloud and the team after the game.
“Tash didn’t want to feel like she was a distraction. I told her she wasn’t,” Marsh said in a post-game news conference. “I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects the people that need to be protected, and so, Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.”
“I think that there’s so much good things about this league … that if you come to a game, you should probably come to enjoy the basketball, and that seems pretty simple to me,” Marsh added when asked if he had a message for Kanter Freedom. “I think these players deserve that and have earned that. And being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too.”
ABC News reached out to the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever for comment.
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