The Chicago Sky have indefinitely banned former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom from Wintrust Arena.

Sky owner Michael Alter announced the decision Tuesday, two days after Kanter Freedom was removed from the arena during Chicago's game against the Indiana Fever.

The ban came after a heated exchange between Kanter Freedom and Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.

According to Underdog WNBA on X, "Sky owner Michael Alter said Enes Kanter is not allowed back into Wintrust Arena, 'unless sometime in the future, he's able to prove to us that he's able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat.'"

During the third quarter of the Sky's game against the Indiana Fever, Kanter Freedom was sitting courtside. He was wearing a shirt that read, "WOMAN noun. adult human female."

Following a basket, Cloud approached him and shouted in his direction. Kanter Freedom stood up, outstretched his arms, and took steps toward the court. Multiple security forces intervened and escorted him off the court.

Alter announced the indefinite ban during an interview with Chicago media on Tuesday.

"When he made a decision to stand up from his seat again, on the court, put his arms out, point a finger at the player on the court, Natasha Cloud. And most importantly, he took a step towards the court," Alter said.

It changed everything.

"He went from being a fan ... to being a potential threat. And that is why the security acted as quickly and swiftly, very smoothly, as they did," Alter added.

The WNBA, however, will not institute a league-wide ban on Freedom, according to a league source.

But league sources also declared Enes Kanter Freedom's ineligibility to play in the league after he declared that he will join the 2027 WNBA draft as a transgender woman after the recent incident.

Alter clarifies that any claims that Kanter Freedom didn't say anything are false

Alter, who said he spoke to numerous people sitting in the area, said multiple people confirmed to him that the ex-player began verbally engaging with Cloud in the third quarter in an attempt to provoke her.

“I’ve had both of these people, separately, confirm that the dialogue, the engagement, whatever you want or however you want to characterize it, between Cloud and Freedom Kanter, started with Kanter," he told reporters, per Front Office Sports.

And regarding Kanter Freedom's defense that he did not step onto the floor, Alter denied that logic completely.

"I heard him last night, he said, 'Well, I didn't cross the baseline,' as if though that's some magical threshold," Alter said.

Freedom had argued on Fox News that he stayed behind the court boundaries.

"One reason he didn't cross the baseline was because he was prevented from doing so. But regardless of that, the security people's job is not to wait until a threat intensifies. It's to avoid the threat from happening when [a] perceived threat occurs, and that's exactly what they did," Alter argued.

At the end, Alter also added that the ban will stand unless Enes Kanter can prove he can abide by arena rules.

Written by

Md Saife Fida