Former NBA player Enes Kanter FREEDOM has sued the Chicago Sky, Wintrust Arena owner Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the City of Chicago in federal court after being ejected from a WNBA game and barred from attending future Sky events.
Filed before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the lawsuit alleges that Freedom’s First Amendment rights were violated when he was escorted out of Wintrust Arena during the Aug. 23 matchup between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever. He claims the removal was retaliation for his views on women’s sports.
Freedom was seated courtside during the game wearing a shirt defining a “woman” as an “adult human female.” During the third quarter, he became involved in a confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Following a timeout, Cloud walked toward Freedom, who stood up before arena security escorted him out.
Sky owner Michael Alter later said Freedom had been banned from Wintrust Arena, citing concerns about his behavior and describing him as a “threat.”
Freedom’s complaint challenges that characterization, maintaining that he was peacefully expressing his views and did not pose a threat. The lawsuit alleges he was singled out over his “verbal and demonstrable expression of viewpoint and gender identity.”
“My T-shirt did what the whole WNBA apparently couldn’t: define a woman. No threats. No violence. Just biology. And somehow, that required a security escort,” Freedom wrote after filing the case.
He also said,
“You don’t have to agree with my speech but you don’t get to silence me. I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will continue to stand for women and defend free speech.”
Freedom has been a vocal opponent of transgender participation in women’s sports. In August, he announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft, arguing that he qualified under the league’s rules while identifying himself as a woman in making his case.
The WNBA rejected his bid, and after his ban from Wintrust Arena, Freedom demanded that Commissioner Cathy Engelbert explain why he was removed from the game and how the league’s rules were applied.
