Angel McCoughtry wants the Chicago Sky’s ban on Enes Kanter Freedom to follow him around the WNBA.
The five-time WNBA All-Star spoke to TMZ Sports at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27, four days after Kanter Freedom was removed from a Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever game following a confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. McCoughtry said Chicago’s decision to bar him from future home games did not go far enough.
Her frustration extended beyond that incident. McCoughtry questioned why the WNBA has become a focal point in the wider debate over transgender athletes when there is no active transgender player in the league, and she also brought up the recent incidents in which spectators have thrown sex toys onto WNBA courts.
“Leave us alone,” McCoughtry said. The Sky have announced their own home-game ban, but the league has not publicly imposed a league-wide prohibition on Kanter Freedom.
McCoughtry Wants the Ban to Follow Kanter Freedom Around the League
McCoughtry argued that keeping Kanter Freedom out of Sky home games still leaves open the possibility of another confrontation elsewhere. “You should be banned,” she told TMZ before asking whether he might next appear at a game in Los Angeles or New York.
She framed her criticism as part of a broader frustration over attention directed at women’s basketball. McCoughtry referred to the series of incidents involving sex toys being thrown onto WNBA courts and asked why people were so focused on disrupting or provoking the league.
“There’s not an active trans player in the WNBA,” McCoughtry said. Her point was that the current controversy is being fought around a hypothetical eligibility question. Sky owner Michael Alter said this week that the organization had reviewed multiple objects being thrown during Chicago’s Aug. 21 game against Golden State and was working to identify the people involved.
The Sky Banned Kanter Freedom After His Confrontation With Natasha Cloud
The incident behind Chicago’s ban occurred Aug. 23 at Wintrust Arena. According to The Associated Press, Cloud scored late in the third quarter and then turned toward Kanter Freedom, who was seated along the baseline wearing a shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
Cloud approached while yelling and pointing in his direction. Kanter Freedom stood, extended his arms and took a step forward as security and several Sky players moved between them. He was subsequently escorted from the court area.
Two days later, Alter announced that Kanter Freedom would not be permitted at Sky home games unless he could eventually demonstrate to the organization that he would follow its rules without becoming what Alter called a “potential threat.” Alter also said the team believed Kanter Freedom had come to the game intending to be provocative and attract attention.
Kanter Freedom disputes that account. He says he never intended to enter the court and maintains that his movement during the confrontation did not justify his ejection. He wrote afterward that he had been removed for supporting women.
He has since gone further than merely considering a response. In an Aug. 27 interview with OutKick, Kanter Freedom said he and his legal team would take action against the Chicago Sky and Alter.
Kanter Freedom’s WNBA Draft Plan Has Already Hit Another Barrier
The courtside dispute came after Kanter Freedom and former NBA player Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft, saying they identify as women as part of their challenge to the league’s eligibility rules.
League sources subsequently told Reuters that neither former NBA player is eligible to participate in the WNBA. Those sources described the declarations as an effort to draw attention and create division around the transgender-athlete debate.
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said the league is discussing the subject with its teams, players and other stakeholders. She has also objected to attempts to turn the WNBA into what she called a “political football,” while the WNBPA has said transgender people should not be subjected to hate, abuse or demonization as part of the debate.
That absence of an existing transgender player is central to McCoughtry’s complaint about the controversy. “If it happened, then have the conversation. It’s not happening,” she told TMZ.