<p>Speaking to reporters for the first time since her confrontation with provocateur <b>Enes Kanter Freedom</b>, <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago-sky" target="_blank" >Sky</a> guard <b>Natasha Cloud</b> declined to give him any more attention.</p><p>“I’m not going to address an irrelevant person,” Cloud said.</p><p>Instead, Cloud used the question to draw attention to issues she believes have far greater consequences for women and children, including domestic violence, sexual assault, food insecurity, access to health care and mortality among women.</p><p>Cloud said she believes the right wing in the United States is using the WNBA as a pawn to distract from those issues ahead of the midterm elections.</p><p>“It is an intentional distraction,” Cloud said. “The more that we hate each other and have bias against each other, the more we’re going to be distracted from real-life issues that are plaguing these communities that we’re here to support and here to protect."</p><p>Cloud also pointed to the hypocrisy of right-wing commentators who now say the WNBA and its players need to be protected.</p><p>“Y’all were the same ones saying that we shouldn’t be paid,” Cloud said. “Y’all were the same ones saying that we’re a joke. Y’all are the same ones that don’t respect Black women. If you’re going to protect women, that means all women. That means Black women, trans women, and the list goes on and on.”</p><p>Kanter Freedom, who recently claimed to be a woman and declared for the WNBA draft, was ejected from a recent Sky-Fever game after getting into a verbal altercation with Cloud. The Sky later banned him from attending their games, with principal owner Michael Alter saying Kanter Freedom would not be welcomed back unless he could prove to the organization that he would abide by its rules.</p><p>Cloud said she feels fully supported by the Sky, including Alter, general manager <b>Jeff Pagliocca</b> and coach <b>Tyler Marsh.</b></p><p>“Michael goes and bans [Kanter Freedom],” Cloud said. “That’s immediate action. We’re asking for protection. That’s what protection looks like from a man.</p><p>“We can’t not allow him in the arena before the game, but after the game, we can bring solutions to the table that benefit putting our players first. I think that Jeff, Tyler and Michael have done a really good job of that.”</p><p>Cloud is one of the league's most vocal players on social and political issues. But she pushed back against the notion that she enjoys being at the center of such conversations.</p><p>“None of this is performative,” Cloud said. “I don’t want to put myself in front of fires all the time. I don’t want to be the one that always has to speak up, but somebody has to [expletive] do it.”</p><p>She said remaining silent would be a disservice to the communities she cares about and identifies with, particularly when she has a platform capable of drawing attention to the issues affecting them.</p><p>At the same time, Cloud lamented that controversies such as the one involving Kanter Freedom tend to overshadow every other aspect of the league.</p><p>“I would love for our league to be celebrated for the amazing year that we’re having,” Cloud said. “Our transformative CBA, our viewership going through the roof — you have so many players playing at such an elite level, but we don’t even talk about it because we are a microcosm of a bigger issue in our society.”</p>
Natasha Cloud calls Enes Kanter Freedom „irrelevant,“ redirects focus to issues affecting women 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-08-29 17:50:28
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