Key Takeaways
- Enes Kanter Freedom said Sophie Cunningham texted “What happened?” after security ejected him from an Indiana Fever–Chicago Sky game, prompting him to reply that he was protecting his friends.
- Freedom called Cunningham an “American hero” for opposing transgender women’s participation in women’s sports, though she has not publicly joined his broader campaign against the WNBA’s eligibility policies.
- Freedom sued the Chicago Sky and other defendants over his ejection and indefinite arena ban, while team owner Michael Alter called the case “meritless and frivolous” and blamed Freedom’s conduct rather than his T-shirt.
Enes Kanter Freedom has spent weeks publicly championing Sophie Cunningham. Now he's revealing what the Indiana Fever guard allegedly said during their private text exchange after the WNBA game that ended with him getting tossed from the arena.
Freedom said during a recent Fox News appearance that he exchanged texts with Cunningham following his August 23 ejection from the Fever's game against the Chicago Sky. Cunningham's message, according to Freedom, was simple: “What happened?”
“So, yes, I did text her after the game,” Freedom said. He claimed he responded, “I just got up and opened my arms in the air and said, ‘I’m here to protect my friends.’”
Freedom didn't release screenshots, reveal the rest of their conversation or say who initiated the texting. He did, however, use the disclosure to heap more praise on Cunningham, whom he has repeatedly described as a friend and one of the WNBA's most important voices.
“I think she’s inspiring not only the people in the WNBA, but the girls from all over the world,” Freedom said. “I think she’s an idol now, and she’s an American hero.”
He has previously gone even further, calling Cunningham a “national treasure” who “must be protected at all costs.”
Cunningham became part of the league's ongoing culture-war debate after publicly opposing transgender women competing in women's sports. She later pushed back against accusations that her position amounted to hostility toward transgender people.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham said. “I think that I am here to extend love.”
Freedom subsequently took the issue much further. He attempted to declare himself eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft, demanded that the league explicitly restrict eligibility to “biological” women, and challenged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to a public “peace summit.”
League sources have said Freedom isn't eligible for the draft. Cunningham, meanwhile, has never publicly been presented as a partner in his broader campaign.
She was, however, the reason Freedom said he went to Wintrust Arena.
Freedom said he attended the Fever-Sky matchup to support Cunningham and was sitting courtside in his “WOMAN, noun. Adult human female” shirt when he became involved in a verbal confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Freedom eventually stood, extended his arms, and stepped toward the court before security removed him.
That night has since become the subject of a federal case. Freedom sued the Sky and other defendants over his ejection and an indefinite ban from Sky games at Wintrust Arena, alleging that his First Amendment rights were violated.
