The battle between Enes Kanter Freedom and the Chicago Sky has now moved from arenas to federal court, and as the former NBA player accuses the team of violating his constitutional rights, the Sky owner has made it clear via his latest statement that he's standing his ground.
24 hours after Freedom made it clear on X that he had begun suing the Sky and the City of Chicago for his ejection, the Sky's principal owner, Michael Alter, has issued a statement of his own. He indicates that Freedom's problem was his conduct, not his messaging.
Advertisement
"We received word that the entity owning the Chicago Sky is being sued by Mr. Enes Kanter Freedom for allegedly violating his First Amendment rights," Alter's statement read. "This lawsuit is meritless and frivolous." The statement was later posted to X by ESPN's Kareem Copeland.
He continued, "Freedom's claim that he was removed from Wintrust Arena due to his speech is false. As his own complaint acknowledges, he wore the shirt in question for multiple hours without any contact with security. Security removed Freedom only after he violated fan code of conduct by rising from his seat, gesturing at a player, and stepping toward the court. Freedom was removed for his conduct, not his speech. We look forward to the truth prevailing in court."
There's always something brewing with the Chicago Sky. Subscribe for more interesting stories.
The fiasco began in the third quarter of the game between the Sky and the Indiana Fever on August 25, when Freedom, wearing a shirt with the definition of "women" on the front, got into a verbal altercation with Chicago guard Natasha Cloud. The former NBA center took a step onto the court before teammates pulled Cloud away, and security escorted Freedom out of the arena.
Advertisement
Just a day later, in a press conference, Alter made it clear to local reporters that Freedom had been indefinitely banned from Wintrust Arena, with Alter classifying him as a "threat." According to a report from Front Office Sports, this decision was made in collaboration with arena security, NBA security, security teams from both the Sky and Fever, as well as the Chicago Police Department.
"He has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat," Alter said back then.
Then, on September 3, Freedom made a post on X making it clear that he was intending to sue the Sky for violating his free speech, arguing that he was ejected for his provocative T-shirt.
"My T-shirt did what the whole @WNBA apparently couldn't: define a woman," he wrote on X. "No threats. No violence. Just biology. And somehow, that required a security escort. You don't have to agree with my speech but you don't get to silence me for it. I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will continue to stand for women and defend free speech."
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, who operate Wintrust Arena and is one of the parties being sued, also made it clear that their employees "were not involved" in the decision to remove Freedom, and that the move was made only by Sky.
Alter, for his part, is not interested in making any comments about future legal processes he is to be involved in.
"At the advice of our legal counsel, given that there is now pending litigation, we will have no further public comments on the matter outside of the courtroom," his statement concluded.
This move is the latest in Freedom's involvement with the WNBA following his public support of Sophie Cunningham's comments on transgender athletes in women's sports. He, along with former NBA player Royce White, has declared for the WNBA draft in 2027 to challenge the league's eligibility criteria, which, according to the 2026 WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, states that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA," but doesn't specify any further criteria.
Advertisement
Only time will tell what comes of Enes Kanter Freedom's lawsuit against the Sky and the city of Chicago, but it's clear that as the legal proceedings continue, the spotlight will continue to be on him and the situation.
Trending Articles
The post "Meritless and Frivolous": Chicago Sky Owner Breaks Silence 24 Hours After Enes Kanter Freedom's Federal Lawsuit
appeared first on EssentiallySports
. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
