Aug. 29, 2026, 9:11 p.m. ET
Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud referred to as Enes Kanter Freedom “irrelevant” and shifted consideration to what she described as extra urgent points as she addressed reporters for the primary time since her verbal confrontation with the previous NBA participant throughout a sport on Aug. 23.
“I will not be speaking about something that occurred with an irrelevant particular person,” Cloud stated earlier than a 85-66 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday, Aug. 29. “What I’ll concentrate on is what really impacts girls and youngsters at present in 2026.”
Cloud then spoke for 2 extra minutes, emphasizing home violence, sexual assault and meals insecurity because the three issues going through girls that ought to be mentioned as an alternative of Kanter Freedom.
“I’ll speak about actual points that face girls, and it is not our trans human beings,” Cloud added. “It isn’t our drag queens. It isn’t our homosexual neighborhood. There’s a sure demographic of individuals that you may usually search; it is a easy Google search of what’s the biggest risk to girls and youngsters in 2026 in the USA of America, and it is not going to be trans individuals.”
Cloud confronted Kanter Freedom throughout a sport towards the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Area. He was sitting near the court docket in a black shirt that learn “WOMAN noun. grownup human feminine.”
The Fever referred to as for a timeout after Cloud scored with 1:22 left within the third, and he or she approached Kanter Freedom. He stood up along with his arms outstretched and stepped over photographers to method the court docket. Cloud was held again by teammates as Kanter Freedom was surrounded by safety. He was then escorted out of the sector.
Sky proprietor Michael Alter informed reporters on Aug. 25 that Kanter Freedom is banned from Wintrust Area. The WNBA doesn’t at present plan to topic him to a league-wide ban.
The collective bargaining settlement between the WNBA and its gamers’ union has stated “solely gamers who’re girls are eligible to play within the WNBA,” for the reason that league’s inception in 1996. There is not any additional definition of a lady or a publicly obtainable coverage concerning the eligibility of transgender or intersex athletes.
Though no transgender girls play within the WNBA, Kanter Freedom and former NBA participant Royce White unsuccessfully tried to declare eligibility for the 2027 WNBA draft following feedback made by Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in an ESPN story. Cunningham added to these remarks, saying younger ladies taking part in sports activities “should not must go towards organic males.”Cunningham’s feedback on transgender athlete participation and the following dialog got here after the U.S. Supreme Court docket upheld states’ proper to ban transgender women and girls from participation in girls’s sports activities.
Laws handed in 27 states barring transgender women and girls from collaborating in girls’s sports activities is geared toward a small portion of the inhabitants — 1% of individuals aged 13 and over within the U.S. establish as transgender, based on a 2025 research by the Williams Institute at UCLA Regulation.
The Human Rights Marketing campaign reported in 2023 that 19% of transgender youth nationwide have been taking part in sports activities, together with fewer than 1,300 who performed sports activities in class.
