Defiant ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has doubled down on his intention to join the WNBA amid reports ‘terrified’ women’s basketball bosses have ruled him ineligible for the 2027 draft.
Kanter Freedom has caused havoc in recent weeks after announcing he has ‘declared’ for next year’s draft amid the debate surrounding transgender athletes in sports.
On Monday, however, reports emerged that the league had decided Kanter Freedom – and fellow ex-NBA star Royce White, who has also announced his desire to declare for the draft – would not be allowed to play in the league.
The latest twist came less than 24 hours after Kanter Freedom was ejected from a WNBA game after clashing with Chicago Sky star Natasha Cloud.
During their game against the Indiana Fever, Cloud stormed over to Freedom – who was controversially sitting courtside – and sparked a furious argument.
In a viral clip of the incident, the pair could be seen shouting at each other before the former New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder player stood up and spread his arms, while Cloud was held back by security.
Ex-NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has hit back at the ‘terrified’ WNBA following reports that claimed the league had ruled him ineligible to declare for the 2027 Draft
WNBA star Natasha Cloud had to be held back by security after confronting Kanter Freedom
On Monday afternoon, Freedom sat down with Fox News to discuss the ongoing saga. Responding to reports that the WNBA had ruled him ineligible, he said: ‘Listen, Article 13 Section 1 says if you identify as a woman, then you are allowed to play! I identify as a woman, so yes, I can play.’
He added: ‘They’re terrified because I might actually get drafted and play against their big men. I’m probably going to drop 60 points… I’m going to try to beat Wilt Chamberlain’s record [of 100 points in a single game]. I might go over 100 points for sure.’
In the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, it states ‘only players who are women are eligible to play.’ But there is no specific definition of a woman.
According to Front Office Sports, a league representative said that the WNBA is ‘not going to give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalize others.’
When it was put to the 34-year-old that he will never be allowed to play in the WNBA, Kanter Freedom responded: ‘Why not? That’s the rules. I’m just following the rules.
‘If they ever come out and say: “Okay, we’re changing the rules,” I respect their decision, I will follow the rules. But right now, if you identify as a woman, you’re allowed to play. And I am identifying as a woman and I should be allowed to play.’
During his appearance at Wintrust Arena on Sunday night, the ex-NBA star wore a provocative t-shirt that included a definition of the word woman. ‘Woman. Noun,’ it read. ‘Adult human female.’ The words woman and female were highlighted in red.’
He was given a hostile reception by some supporters and was later kicked out of the game but on Monday, Kanter Freedom dismissed suggestions that he is banned from future WNBA games.
Freedom alleged Cloud told him Sophie Cunningham ‘won’t sleep with you’ at Wintrust Arena
Cloud stormed over to Freedom, who was sitting courtside, and sparked a furious argument
In fact, the 34-year-old claimed he would be attending every Indiana Fever game during the upcoming WNBA playoffs.
‘I have not heard it [about an arena ban],’ he said. ‘If there is any news out there, please don’t listen to those sources because it’s all fake news.
‘I did not break any kind of rules. I did not step over the baseline. I simply got up and just opened my arms. So they should not be banning me from any games and I am so excited for the playoffs.
‘I cannot wait to go to every playoff game that Indiana Fever plays. It’s going to be fun because I’m a fan of the game.’
Fever games have been hit by protests and counter protests in recent weeks after Sophie Cunningham sparked a war of words by claiming she wants to ‘protect young girls… who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.’
During his interview on Monday, Kanter Freedom branded Cunningham a ‘national treasure’ who ‘should be protected at all costs.’
‘She is an American hero,’ he told Fox. ‘Because she’s not only inspiring young girls in America but all over the world. So she is an idol, a hero.’
The 6ft 10ins Freedom previously alleged that it was Cloud who initiated their courtside confrontation and told him that Cunningham ‘won’t sleep with you.’
He told OutKick: ‘Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple [of] possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, “She’s not gonna sleep with you.”
Earlier on Sunday night, Freedom was confronted by fans as he arrived at the Fever-Sky clash
‘And I was like, “I am not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.” And then, obviously, after that, 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.”
‘She started to yell. She started to use some very heavy language. She started to actually cuss, and I was very shocked that there were a lot of kids and that there were a lot of teenagers at that game.
‘I just cannot believe that she was just cussing and using those F-bombs in front of all these kids. I’m sure she’s loved in Chicago and many kids are idolizing her and stuff, but that’s not how a WNBA athlete should react.’
Taking to X after he was removed by security, Freedom wrote: ‘I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!’
He also wrote: ‘It’s always women hating on other women’.
