Enes Kanter Freedom has been ejected from arenas before, but never for a T-shirt. On Sunday, security walked him out of Wintrust Arena mid-quarter during the Fever-Sky game, and within hours the internet had turned it into a cause.
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Eric Daugherty, chief content officer of Florida’s Voice, tweeted on X that Freedom was being massively supported across America because of his ejection from the game, stating that his fans had rallied around him over his shirt, which described the term “woman.”
Eric Daugherty works for a right-wing news organization, and the way he framed the issue found an audience ready for it. Freedom has been campaigning against transgender players in women’s sports for months now.
Commenting on Daugherty’s post, a user identified as realChipEvans commented, “He’s winning this one… he’s living ‘rent free ‘”!! Keep it up, my fellow American!!”
This is part of the trend that accompanies Freedom wherever he goes. His life since leaving the NBA has been one of making waves, whether it was speaking out against China’s human rights violations or getting involved in WNBA games, and this always ends up creating the same kind of backlash and rallying support online.
Another commenter, Lexy, put it more bluntly, writing, “They really fear a man who defends women. Wild.”
This response makes use of Freedom’s own logic he had been repeating throughout his interviews since Sunday, saying that the shirt he wore, and his being at the court, was more about protection and not provocation.
A third reply, from N1ghtHawk, pushed the sentiment further, asking, “We need a whole crowd wearing that shirt. Are they going to attack the crowd if they are outnumbered?”
That question brings up an assertion that Freedom’s backers constantly make about how a lone individual received a highly disproportionate reaction. This is the assertion that needs the most background because this incident actually began on the court and not the stands.
Chicago Sky player Natasha Cloud had scored in the closing moments of the third quarter and proceeded to walk down to Freedom on the baseline and point and yell at him.
Later that night, Freedom told his own version of events in an interview with OutKick, “It was toward the end of the third quarter and Sophie Cunningham shot a 3-pointer to celebrate,” he said. “Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.'”
This claim is significant since Cunningham, a player for the Indiana Fever, has openly disagreed with transgender players in women’s sports and has not even been part of the exchange. The celebration of her shot by Freedom seems to have been the catalyst behind Cloud’s reaction.
Trista Smith, who claimed to have been seated next to Freedom, corroborated his story later. “She came and got in his face, so he stood up,” Smith said, pointing out that she had never met Freedom before that evening and felt that the man had been ejected unfairly.
The Chicago side had a different version of the story. Azurá Stevens, Sky forward, said it was just a fan issue that was taken care of by the security and took the discussion back to the 113-90 loss.
Cloud remained out of frame in the aftermath of the event but chose to make her own statement via 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 wrote.
On the other hand, Caitlin Clark, star for Indiana, claimed that she did not witness any of the conflict.
“To be honest, I didn’t see it,” Clark said. “We were talking about the next play in our huddle, so I think that’s probably a question for Chicago.”
While the Fever were on to bigger things after an emphatic victory, the controversy surrounding Freedom’s ejection continues to rage on, ensuring that the discussion about his shirt and Cloud’s reaction remains alive and well.