Enes Kanter Freedom is taking legal action against the Chicago Sky

E nes Kanter Freedom has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Sky and the operators of Wintrust Arena , claiming that his rights protected under the First Amendment were violated after he was removed from a team home game and later banned from attending WNBA games at the venue.

The 15-page lawsuit was filed Thursday in the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division . In addition to the Chicago Sky, the former NBA player named the City of Chicago and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the organization responsible for operating and managing Wintrust Arena, as defendants.

The incident that sparked the dispute occurred on August 23 during the matchup between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever, when Kanter Freedom was involved in a verbal exchange with Sky point guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.

The former NBA player was sitting courtside wearing a black T-shirt that read:

"WOMAN noun. adult human female."

During a timeout, Cloud approached Kanter Freedom and began confronting him. The former player stood up with his arms extended and took a few steps toward the court, but security intervened before he could move any farther and later instructed him to leave the arena.

Chicago Sky defend Kanter Freedom’s ejection

Sky owner Michael Alter explained that Kanter Freedom began to “chirp” and “engage” with Cloud, who has been a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ rights .

“[Kanter Freedom] has demonstrated to us, unequivocally, that he has the potential to be a threat. He is not able to control himself to the extent where we can feel comfortable that he may not step toward the court again and toward the players. That is the basis for which we will not permit him into the building until such time as he can prove otherwise,” Alter said last week.

The executive said he respects the First Amendment and people’s right to express their political, religious or personal beliefs. However, he emphasized that fans attending games must follow the rules established by the league and the teams.

“I heard him say, ‘Well, I didn’t cross the baseline,’ as if though that’s some magical threshold,” Alter said. “One reason he didn’t cross the baseline was because he was prevented from doing so. But regardless of that, the security people’s job is not to wait until a threat intensifies. It’s to prevent a threat from happening when a perceived threat occurs, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Alter added that security personnel acted because Kanter Freedom began walking toward the court, and they could not wait to determine how far he would go or what he would do once he got there.