Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter doubled down on his decision to bar Enes Kanter Freedom from future WNBA games at Wintrust Arena, claiming the former NBA player was no more entitled to a warning than someone who would “shoot a gun at someone.”
Alter told OutKick that Freedom had been identified as a threat when he stood up and approached the court, hands raised — at Sunday’s game featuring the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky — in response to comments shouted at him by Sky guard Natasha Cloud. He went on to suggest that Freedom had not been given a “warning” before he was ejected from the game because the threat he represented was so serious.
Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter says Enes Kanter Freedom became a “potential threat” when he stepped toward the court, defending the decision to eject him without warning.
Asked why Freedom wasn’t warned first, Alter compared it to shooting a gun: “Certain threats don’t get… pic.twitter.com/95l3PP8Iir
— OutKick (@Outkick) August 26, 2026
“He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings. He was given a lot of leeway, as I was saying, he was sitting there and he was trash talking her and all that, so he was certainly given leeway, but at a certain point, when somebody — I mean, to use an extreme example, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning, ‘Don’t do that again.’ Your action doesn’t deserve a warning. You take action that becomes a threat, you don’t get a warning,” Alter said.
Freedom responded to the wild comparison, saying of Alter, “I mean, he needs to check himself.”
The former NBA player — who has declared for the 2027 WNBA draft based on the league’s vague guidelines regarding gender identification — said he may pursue legal action against the team and its owner.
“I’m not talking about against the WNBA, but I think against Michael Alter and the Chicago Sky for sure. Like, I don’t think they know what they’re talking about,” he said. “Me and my legal team will definitely be taking actions against Chicago Sky and Michael Alter.”
Freedom said he was at the game to support Fever shooting guard Sophie Cunningham, whom he calls a friend, who has been the target of harassment since she went public with her support for biological women and girls in athletics.