As the Chicago Sky banned Enes Kanter Freedom, it brought the NFL and the WNBA world together. Former New York Giants safety Ryan Clark took a firm stand on the situation, seeking support for Caitlin Clark and others from the WNBA, publicly denouncing Kanter’s recent antics.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“The biggest thing to me is the WNBA needs to take a stand and say they stand with the women that are on the court right now playing,” said Ryan Clark on The Pivot podcast. “That is who they want to protect. And we should stop having conversations about a make-believe issue that the WNBA has not had in 30 years of its existence.
“We should be talking about the fact that Sydney Taylor has gone from undrafted player to clutch bucket maker in the most important moments for her team. That Natasha Cloud, just three games before the incident happened, had 35 points, and she was looking for a team this offseason. Kaitlyn Clark on that very night hit eight three-pointers. This is somebody that’s in the MVP conversations, one of the faces of your league, and instead of talking about that, uplifting her and her game, you’re now dealing with nonsense and having to have conversations about that.
“I think we need to look at this league and they need to look at themselves as it’s about the women who are on the court now, it’s about the faces of the league now, and how do we amplify their voices and stop having conversations about ghosts at the moment because there are people seeking attention because they no longer have it.”
Controversy has always followed Kanter like a shadow. As the former NBA center attended Sunday’s Chicago Sky matchup against the Indiana Fever, his shirt was enough to stir a new one. It read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
This was not coincidental, as many believe it to be a deliberate move by Kanter to insult the WNBA and its players. He has recently engaged in the debate around transgender athletes in sports, saying that plans to declare for the 2027 WNBA draft by identifying as a woman.
“If they come out tomorrow and say only biological females are eligible to play, I’d drop everything,” Kanter said. “Until then, I am eligible to play.”
For now, however, there are no trans athletes in the WNBA.
“Enes Kanter Freedom isn’t protecting women,” wrote The Athletic’s Jerry Brewer. “Freedom came to taunt. Freedom came to be ejected. Freedom came to ring hollow. He succeeded. He made a mockery of his supposed cause, but he got the attention he craved.”
Regardless of his intentions, Kanter’s appearance at the game drew an angry reaction from players and fans. Things escalated when Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud clashed with Kanter after she scored with 1:22 left in the third quarter. Both security and players stepped in to eject Kanter. As he was escorted out, Kanter showed his shirt to the people he passed by.
“He has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat,” Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter said. “That he is not able to control himself to the extent where we can be comfortable that he may [not] step towards the court again and towards the players.
“As far as a lifetime ban, if someday he’s able to demonstrate he’s capable of being at a game and conducting himself in compliance with our rules and not be a threat to people, might we reconsider? I suppose it’s possible.”
However, this ejection and ban did not sit well with Kanter, who is considering legal action against the Chicago Sky.
