CHICAGO — Enes Kanter Freedom continued his dispute against the WNBA and its teams by filing a lawsuit Thursday against the Chicago Sky and the owners of Wintrust Arena in the U.S District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. The suit is in response to Kanter Freedom’s removal from an Aug. 23 game between the Sky and Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena, during which he engaged in a verbal ...

Former basketball player Enes Kanter Freedom and the Chicago Sky's Natasha Cloud yell at one another during the second half of a game against the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena on Aug. 23, 2026, in Chicago.

Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America/TNS

CHICAGO — Enes Kanter Freedom continued his dispute against the WNBA and its teams by filing a lawsuit Thursday against the Chicago Sky and the owners of Wintrust Arena in the U.S District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.

The suit is in response to Kanter Freedom’s removal from an Aug. 23 game between the Sky and Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena, during which he engaged in a verbal altercation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud that resulted in his ejection.

Kanter Freedom is seeking a lifting of his temporary ban from Wintrust Arena and “nominal and compensatory damages” in the lawsuit, in which he is seeking to prove that his First Amendment rights were violated by being ejected. Senior Judge Elaine E. Bucklo has been assigned to the civil suit.

“This lawsuit is meritless and frivolous,” Sky owner Michael Alter said in a statement Friday. “Freedom’s claim that he was removed from Wintrust Arena due to his speech is false. As his own complaint acknowledges, he wore the shirt in question for multiple hours without any contact with security. Security removed Freedom only after he violated fan code of conduct by rising from his seat, gesturing at a player, and stepping toward the court.

"Freedom was removed for his conduct, not his speech. We look forward to the truth prevailing in court.”

The First Amendment’s freedom of speech protections do not apply to private organizations such as Wintrust Arena or the Sky, which both hold the legal right to enforce their own code of conduct rules.

During a press conference with reporters last week, Alter said Kanter Freedom posed a “potential threat” by engaging with combative language while taking steps toward the court. Security stopped Kanter Freedom before he stepped across the baseline, but he did step over photographers to encroach on the playing space, which is typically not allowed in an NBA or WNBA arena. In the lawsuit, Kanter Freedom claims he was “peacefully” exercising his First Amendment rights.

The decision to remove Kanter Freedom from the August game was made in collaboration between Sky, Fever, arena and league security. Alter said the game’s officiating team also requested Kanter Freedom’s removal from the arena, which would have been standing on its own to eject any fan.

The Sky have not permanently banned Kanter Freedom from Wintrust Arena. Alter previously stated that Kanter Freedom’s ban would be lifted when “he’s able to prove to our satisfaction that he is able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat.”

The lawsuit is the latest antic from Kanter Freedom in an effort to drive a contentious conversation surrounding the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports. No transgender women currently play in the WNBA; a transgender woman has also never declared for the WNBA draft or played in the league during its 26-year history.

Kanter Freedom previously declared for the WNBA draft as a stunt to argue against the league’s qualifications of “women” in sports. The league later said he would not be eligible for selection.