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TRACKING 57128 EVENTS · 8848 SOURCES
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Ex-NBA player WNBA gender eligibility challenge

One page that accretes the verified record as the story develops. Every fact keeps its date and its sources.

5 DAYS
148 FACTS
10 EVENTS
14 SOURCES
FIRST ENTRY AUG 25
AUG 29 · Day 5

Natasha Cloud refuses to address Enes Kanter Freedom by name after ejection

Alter said Freedom must prove that he understands his conduct was unacceptable and will not repeat it, but declined to give him a roadmap for having the ban lifted.

Natasha Cloud called Enes Kanter Freedom an 'irrelevant person' in her first public comments after their courtside confrontation.

The confrontation occurred during the Sky's loss to the Indiana Fever on Aug. 23.

AUG 29 · Day 5

Royce White shows up to Indiana Fever game in blonde wig amid WNBA Draft pursuit

Royce White was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 16th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from a game and subsequently banned from future Sky games.

Royce White's legal team said it had not received a formal determination directly from the WNBA regarding his draft eligibility.

AUG 29 · Day 5

Royce White appears at Fever game amid Simone Biles appearance

Riley Gaines previously attended a Fever vs. Minnesota Lynx game in Minneapolis earlier in the month.

Riley Gaines was at the game.

Riley Gaines told OutKick that when Minneapolis is booing you, it is generally a good sign.

AUG 29 · Day 5

Enes Kanter Freedom's lawyers file FOIA request related to Chicago Sky ejection incident

The America First Policy Institute filed a six-page public-records request with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority on Friday.

Security escorted Freedom from the arena after he stepped toward the court.

The FOIA request was submitted on Enes Kanter Freedom's behalf under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

AUG 27 · Day 3

Enes Kanter Freedom responds to Chicago Sky owner, plans to sue

Alter said certain threats do not get warnings, using shooting a gun as an extreme example.

Alter said several nearby spectators independently told him that Freedom initiated the verbal interaction by directing basketball-related trash talk at Cloud earlier in the third quarter.

Freedom said he was ejected from Sunday's game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever.

AUG 26 · Day 2

WNBA coach defers to league on transgender eligibility issue

Tibbetts was asked about Barkley's comments before a game where the Phoenix Mercury lost 94-84 to the Washington Mystics.

The WNBA's collective bargaining agreement states that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA."

Nate Tibbetts said he would leave the transgender eligibility issue to the league office.

AUG 25 · Day 1

Charles Barkley says WNBA is for women only amid transgender debate

The WNBA rules state that only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA but do not define what a "woman" is.

Jennifer Sey, founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, praised Barkley's comments.

Critics accused Freedom of deliberately stirring up controversy by wearing a T-shirt that read "WOMAN noun. adult human female."

AUG 25 · Day 1

Ex-NBA player claims he identifies as a woman to challenge WNBA ban

Freedom said he attended the game in support of Sophie Cunningham, who he described as an outspoken advocate for protecting women's sports.

Fever head coach Stephanie White dismissed the incident as a 'social media thing.'

Former Lakers forward Matt Ryan publicly supported Freedom on Instagram and X.

“This is my passion... first half I watched the game; it was an amazing time. They put Sophie Cunningham in. I remember around the last three-minute mark she shot the ball and I put my hand in the air to celebrate it. Then Natasha Cloud saw that. Literally the next possession, (Cloud) came back and yelled at me, '(Sophie Cunningham) is not going to sleep with you.'”
AUG 24

Men throwing sex toys at female athletes in sports debate

A group of crypto traders took responsibility for previous sex toy incidents and the most recent one in Chicago.

Natasha Cloud is a player for the Chicago Sky.

Sophie Cunningham declared she is against trans women playing in girls' and women's sports.

AUG 24

Enes Kanter Freedom confrontation with Natasha Cloud leads to ejection

Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected after a verbal altercation with Natasha Cloud during the third quarter of a game between the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever.

Enes Kanter Freedom wrote on X that he was kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting women.

Enes Kanter Freedom is 34 years old.

“A couple possessions later, she came back and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you.’ And I was shocked. I was like, ‘Listen, I’m not trying to sleep with her. I think she’s awesome. She’s a good friend.’ But I think it has a lot to do with my shirt.”
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