ATLANTA — Enes Kanter Freedom, a former NBA player who emerged as a vocal opponent of transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports, said he was kicked out of State Farm Arena during Game 3 of the WNBA Finals after refusing to use a private suite the Atlanta Dream had assigned to him as a security precaution.
Freedom made the claim in a video posted to
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Moving him to a suite was “intended to address his safety concerns and help provide a safe and positive experience for him and other guests,” the Dream’s statement said.
Additional security officers were assigned to the suite and, at Freedom’s request, state police also assigned an officer to protect him.
However, in the video posted on his X account, Freedom can be seen asking to sit on the seats he had purchased.
Flanked by city police officers as he approaches the entrance to State Farm Arena in the video, Freedom is greeted by an arena staff member, who is heard telling him, “Before you come in, you have to agree to go to the suite.” Freedom responded that he had purchased tickets and “would like to sit in my seat.”
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After some back-and-forth, the video cuts to a clip of an officer listing several areas where Freedom could go, then saying, “He just can’t be here.” Freedom then leaves the arena, spreads his arms and says to the camera, “They kicked me out of the game for supporting women.”
A Dream spokesperson said Freedom has the option to return to the arena at any time, as long as he is willing to sit in the suite, depending on his safety concerns.
“I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for the second time in a row for supporting WOMEN!” Freedom wrote on the X post showing the video. “Let that sink in, AMERICA!”
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Opposition to transgender athletes has become a cause celebre for Freedom, who played 748 games in 11 seasons in the NBA and last appeared in a game in 2022.
Four days before Game 3, Freedom announced he would be in the crowd and named Dream center Angel Reese and Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams in his social media post.
He previously attended a Chicago Sky game in August wearing a T-shirt reading “WOMAN noun adult female human” and was ejected from his seat on the court after engaging in an in-game verbal exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. The Sky banned Freedom from its arena after the confrontation, and Freedom filed a lawsuit against the franchise, claiming its First Amendment rights had been violated.
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Freedom began posting about threats he received after announcing his intention to attend Wednesday’s game.
In the days leading up to the game, neither the WNBA nor the Dream made an official comment on Freedom’s participation, although a plan to significantly improve security was expected. The Dream released the statement regarding Freedom’s seating arrangements approximately 40 minutes before Game 3 was announced.
“The safety and security of our guests and team members is our top priority,” Dream’s statement said.
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Teams largely avoided comments about Freedom before the game.
“Obviously the media has a responsibility in what they choose to cover,” Williams said before the warmup.
Karl Smesko, Atlanta’s coach, said: “Everyone is here to watch a great basketball game between two great teams, with some of the best players in the world. We are focused on that.”
This article was originally published in The Athletic.
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