After getting into a heated exchange with former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom last week, Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud says that she would like to shift the conversation.
Cloud spoke to reporters about the issue ahead of the Sky’s game against the New York Liberty on Saturday. She did not refer to Kanter Freedom by name, calling him “irrelevant,” but did advocate for the league to ban him from attending games.
“We’re asking for protection, and that’s what protection looks like from a man,” Cloud said via The Athletic. “We can’t not allow him in the arena before the game, but after the game, we can bring solutions to the table that best benefit putting our players first and protecting our players.”
“We’re asking for protection, and that’s what protection looks like from a man,” Cloud said via The Athletic. “We can’t not allow him in the arena before the game, but after the game, we can bring solutions to the table that best benefit putting our players first and protecting our players.”
Kanter Freedom and Cloud had a heated verbal exchange during a Sky game on Sunday, which led to the former NBA player being escorted from the building. Kanter Freedom was banned from Sky home games after the incident.
Kanter Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, made headlines after attempting to challenge the WNBA’s eligibility rules — though league sources have reportedly since clarified that they are not eligible.
On Saturday, Cloud commended Sky general manager Jeff Pagliocca, head coach Tyler Marsh and team owner Michael Alter for their role in trying to keep the players safe.
“I hope the WNBA follows their lead,” she added.
Cloud, a veteran guard who is in her 11th season in the league, has been known for being outspoken on political and social issues even before Chicago signed her to a one-year deal in May.
Cloud’s outspokenness has continued this season, with the guard sounding off last week after the Sky’s game against the Golden State Valkyries was interrupted by sex toys thrown on the court — the second such incident in as many days. When asked about Kanter Freedom on Saturday, though, Cloud opted to instead steer the conversation towards issues that she believes are more important.
“I won’t be talking about anything that happened with an irrelevant person,” Cloud said, via The Athletic. “What I will focus on is what actually affects women and children.”
Cloud spoke for several minutes about multiple issues, including domestic violence, sexual assault, food insecurity and the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“I will talk about real issues that face women, and it’s not our trans human beings,” Cloud said, via The Athletic. “It’s not our drag queens. It’s not our gay community. There is a certain demographic of people that you can generally search; it’s a simple Google search of what is the greatest threat to women and children in 2026 in the United States of America, and it’s not going to be trans people.”
“I will talk about real issues that face women, and it’s not our trans human beings,” Cloud said, via The Athletic. “It’s not our drag queens. It’s not our gay community. There is a certain demographic of people that you can generally search; it’s a simple Google search of what is the greatest threat to women and children in 2026 in the United States of America, and it’s not going to be trans people.”
Cloud added that she believes that the debate surrounding the WNBA right now is an “intentional distraction.”
“The more that we hate each other, the more that we have bias against each other, the more we’re going to be distracted from real life issues that are plaguing our communities,” Cloud said, via Front Office Sports.
The situation has highlighted the growing issue of extremism and threats that have been targeted at WNBA players. Sky co-owner and governor Nadia Rawlinson told NPR that the team had partnered with threat intelligence company Moonshot and American University’s PERIL (the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab), with the organizations helping to monitor online threats against players and educate people on identifying and countering misogyny in the game, respectively.
When speaking on the threats on Saturday, Cloud bluntly pointed to one demographic as the “root of the issue”: “Men.”
“The men now that are like ‘Oh, we need to protect the WNBA,’ y’all were the same ones saying we shouldn’t be paid,” Cloud said, via The Athletic. “Y’all were the same ones saying we shouldn’t have been invested in, saying we’re a joke, the same ones that don’t respect Black women. So, if you’re going to protect women, that means all women. That includes Black women, trans women and the list goes on.”
“The men now that are like ‘Oh, we need to protect the WNBA,’ y’all were the same ones saying we shouldn’t be paid,” Cloud said, via The Athletic. “Y’all were the same ones saying we shouldn’t have been invested in, saying we’re a joke, the same ones that don’t respect Black women. So, if you’re going to protect women, that means all women. That includes Black women, trans women and the list goes on.”
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