Former NBA star Enes Kanter Freedom has revealed that he received a message from Sophie Cunningham amid the transgender firestorm engulfing the WNBA. 

Kanter, who made headlines by declaring for the WNBA draft in protest of the league’s gender eligibility criteria last month, was ejected from a Chicago Sky game following a heated courtside confrontation with player Natasha Cloud. 

He has now shared that Cunningham, who sparked a trans athlete debate in the sport when she spoke about ‘protecting young girls,’ sent him a text message after he was kicked out of the Wintrust Arena during the Sky’s game against the Indiana Fever. 

During an appearance on Fox News’ ‘The Big Weekend Show,’ Kanter claimed that the Fever star sent him a blunt and direct message, asking: ‘What happened?’ 

Kanter said he answered, ‘I just got up and opened my arms in the air and said, ‘I’m here to protect my friends.”

He did not share screenshots of the exchange nor divulged any further details. He also did not reveal any further messages or who instigated the conversation. 

Enes Kanter Freedom has revealed that he received a message from Sophie Cunningham

Kanter claimed that his relationship with Cunningham is a friendship founded on their shared ideals and views on women’s sports. 

‘She’s standing for the truth… I think she’s an idol now and an American hero,’ Kanter said. ‘I’m just really happy that finally someone from the WNBA got up and said, ‘Enough is enough. We have to stand for American values.” 

Kanter has thrown himself into the heart of the trans athletes debate that has engulfed the WNBA in recent months by trying to take advantage of eligibility rules to enter next year’s draft.

He then had an ugly altercation with Sky star Cloud while sat courtside for the Sky’s game against Cunningham, Caitlin Clark and the Fever.

On the night of the incident, Kanter chose to wear a provocative T-shirt that included a definition of the word woman. ‘Woman. Noun,’ it read. ‘Adult human female.’ The words woman and female were highlighted in red. He insists that did not violate the WNBA’s Fan Code of Conduct. 

While he admits to standing up and raising his arms during the game, Kanter claims that was just to celebrate a Cunningham three-pointer. He has previously alleged that Cloud told him: ‘She’s not going to sleep with you.’ 

Last week, he sued the Chicago Sky, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the City of Chicago.

Kanter is alleging in his lawsuit, filed in Illinois , those three entities unjustly ejected him from the Sky’s game with the Indiana Fever on August 23.

The ex-NBA star was ejected from a Chicago Sky game after his spat with Natasha Cloud

Kanter sat courtside as he watched Cunningham and the Fever face the Sky last month 

He claims the trio of defendants mistreated him that night and he did nothing wrong before they ‘combined and conspired to eject’ him from the arena.

In a post on X announcing his lawsuit, Kanter wrote: ‘SEE YOU IN COURT!!! Just filed a federal complaint. I’m taking legal action over my ejection from the @ChicagoSky game while peacefully exercising my First Amendment rights.

‘My T-shirt did what the whole @WNBA apparently couldn’t: define a woman. No threats. No violence. Just biology. And somehow, that required a security escort. You don’t have to agree with my speech but you don’t get to silence me for it.

‘I will not be intimidated. I will not be silenced. I will continue to stand for women and defend free speech.’

In a statement on Friday, in response to Kanter’s ‘meritless and frivolous’ lawsuit, Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter said he will ‘look forward to the truth prevailing in court.’ 

Kanter also said last week that he wants to replace Cathy Engelbert as the new WNBA Commissioner after she announced her retirement at the end of the calendar year.

And he stole Donald Trump’s slogan to launch his campaign, declaring he wants to ‘Make WNBA Female Again’ and saying: ‘Commissioner Freedom has a nice ring to it.’

In a video posted on social media while wearing a baseball jersey with ‘WNBA’ written across the front, he said: ‘ While the reported retirement of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is a win for women and an admission that the league’s rules must change, her retirement does not solve the systemic issues which must be addressed in order to protect women’s sports.

‘If the WNBA is unable to define what a woman is, then I, Enes Kanter Freedom, would be more than happy to step in as commissioner and lead this league back to greatness and restore fairness for all women. I’ll bring common sense. I’ll bring fairness. And yes, I’ll bring a dictionary.’