Two types of activists in American sports face starkly different consequences. One loses passports, family, and careers. The other forfeits a season’s salary but receives reimbursement from a sneaker company. Both claim to be fighters; only one has endured real persecution.
Tension between Enes Kanter Freedom and Natasha Cloud exploded courtside last Sunday night in Chicago, highlighting the limits of free speech in women’s basketball.
Freedom, who criticized Turkish President Erdoğan, faced family disownment after his father was prosecuted for terrorism. Turkey revoked his passport, leaving him stranded at a Romanian airport. He wore custom shoes criticizing China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims, and a Chinese streaming service removed Celtics games from its platform. His NBA career ended.
Cloud, meanwhile, wore “Black Lives Matter” shirts with the Washington Mystics and skipped the 2020 season for racial justice initiatives. Converse covered her forfeited salary.
These two had previously clashed online after Cloud called America “trash” in 2023. Freedom responded by referencing Brittney Griner’s Russian detention. Sunday’s game brought their conflict into person.
During the game, Freedom wore a shirt reading “woman – noun. adult human female.” According to his account, Cloud turned to him mid-game and said, “She’s not going to sleep with you,” referring to Sophie Cunningham. He claims he responded by stating he was there to protect women. Cloud then used profanity and, with 1:22 left in the third quarter, scored a point, chest-bumped a teammate, and walked toward Freedom yelling and pointing.
Freedom stood, opened his arms, and stepped forward as security arrived.
Freedom was ejected from the game while Cloud remained on court. No disciplinary action was taken against her.
Two days later, Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter banned Freedom indefinitely from Wintrust Arena, stating: “He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings. To use an extreme example, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning, ‘Don’t do that again.’” Alter added that Freedom would not be allowed back “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.”
The game drew 3.31 million viewers—the most-watched WNBA regular-season game since the league’s opening weekend in 1997.
Freedom sent a formal letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert demanding an explanation, a review of Cloud’s conduct, and preservation of all arena footage.
