The Indiana Fever-Chicago Sky game on Sunday took a sour turn as former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom’s courtside presence ignited a heated exchange with Natasha Cloud. Kanter Freedom was eventually removed from the arena, but he has now revealed shocking details about his exchange with Cloud, and Sophie Cunningham is involved in an unexpected way.
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“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate,” Freedom told Fox News’ Jackson Thompson in an X post by Outkick. “Literally a couple of positions later, Natasha came back, and she starts 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.”
Cloud’s questioning of Freedom’s intentions came before he was eventually removed from the arena. The former NBA player claims that he was there just to support women in women’s sports; Cloud didn’t seem convinced. She has yet to respond to Freedom’s claim about what she said to him.
Cloud was involved in another intense altercation with Freedom after scoring a basket in the third quarter. Videos show that Cloud stepped towards Freedom after she scored and proceeded to exchange some heated words with him. Freedom also stood up, arms spread, arguing with the veteran Sky guard. Eventually, Cloud was held back by her teammates, as security removed Freedom from the arena. Freedom elaborated on this exchange in his interview with Thompson.
“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,’ right? And then she started to yell. She started to use some very heavy language; she started to actually cuss.”
Cloud was visibly agitated at Freedom’s presence. This follows the former NBA player bringing to attention the vague eligibility criteria put forth by the 2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement of the WNBA, which states that only women can participate in the league, but does not address issues of gender identity or transgender athletes.
Freedom announced his intentions to declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft on his X profile to question the eligibility process. His actions have also prompted another former NBA player, Royce White, to say he identifies as a woman and declare for the 2027 WNBA Draft as well.
After the game, Freedom took to X to express his sentiments about being ejected from the arena.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
His altercation with Cloud occurred with 9:35 minutes left in the second quarter, when Sophie Cunningham made her only 3-pointer of the night off an assist from Fever teammate Kelsey Mitchell, bringing the score to 31-31 in favor of the Fever. Cunningham’s three-pointer was her only goal of the night, while Cloud bagged a team-high of 16 points to go with seven assists and four rebounds.
Despite her contributions, the Sky fell to the Fever, pushing Cloud and her team out of playoff contention. They still have six games to play in the regular season and will be hoping to play them without incidents like last night.