Forget about him trying to play in the league, Enes Kanter Freedom might not be able to even attend WNBA games as a spectator.
During this past Sunday’s game between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, there was a heated exchange involving Kanter and WNBA guard Natasha Cloud. The security guards at Wintrust Arena escorted the former NBA center out of the building a few moments later.
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate,” Kanter said. “Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ 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.”
© Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
It was initially reported by TMZ that Wintrust Arena, the home of the Sky, wouldn’t ban Kanter from attending future games.
Well, Sky owner Michael Alter announced Tuesday that Kanter won’t be allowed at Wintrust Arena moving forward.
“He has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat,” Alter told the local media.
What about the rest of the WNBA?
As of this moment, it sounds like only Wintrust Arena has banned Kanter from attending WNBA games this season.
“Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ… the plan inside the league is to try and move on and let the controversy die. We’re told the league felt a ban wasn’t warranted because Enes didn’t set foot on the court and he didn’t do anything else that was egregious,” TMZ reported.
We’ll see if other teams choose to keep Kanter out for the remainder of the 2026 campaign.
