The Chicago Sky suffered a heavy 23-point loss to the Indiana Fever on Sunday, falling 113-90. However, according to former sports columnist Jason Whitlock, the game might not have turned out that way if the Sky, and Natasha Cloud in particular, had not gotten caught up in a confrontation with former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom. For the Fearless Soldiers podcast host, Cloud’s decision to engage Freedom became an unnecessary “publicity stunt” that might have distracted her and cost the team.
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“After Natasha Cloud hit a bucket and then moved to her Enes Kanter publicity stunt, the Sky got outscored 32-15. Cloud had cut the Fever lead to 81-75 late in the third quarter. Then she continued her publicity campaign. She never scored another bucket. Publicity,” Whitlock wrote on his X page.
Natasha Cloud’s confrontation with the former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom on Sunday happened with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter. Cloud scored an inside bucket to pull the Chicago Sky within six points, making the score 81-75 as the Sky were looking like they were catching up to the Fever.
However, immediately after that basket, the Indiana Fever called a timeout, which was when Cloud walked directly toward Freedom, pointing and shouting at him. Following that confrontation and the timeout, the Sky lost their momentum.
Indiana Fever outscored Chicago 32-15 to ultimately win the game with a 23-point lead. And even though Cloud finished the game with a team-high 16 points and seven assists, her scoring completely dried up after the altercation. She did not score a single point or make a field goal for the remainder of the game.
The presumed cause of the altercation is none other than Freedom’s ongoing online take on transgender athlete eligibility in the WNBA. Freedom, in a bid to challenge the league’s eligibility guidelines, has even gone ahead to announce that he identifies as a woman and has publicly “declared” himself for the 2027 WNBA draft on August 7.
Freedom, who was sitting courtside along the baseline wearing a black T-shirt that read, “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” then stood up and stepped toward the baseline with his arms outstretched. Game officials, arena security, and Cloud’s teammates were, however, quick to separate the two, with security eventually escorting Freedom out of the arena.
However, Natasha Cloud wasn’t done airing her grievance on the court. After the game, the Chicago Sky star took to social media to state her support for the trans community in a Threads post.
“To every trans kid/person, you are a part of MY community & tribe… you will always be protected by me,” she wrote.
She did, however, have Sky head coach Tyler Marsh’s support, who claimed that when Cloud came to him and voiced her concerns that the confrontation may have negatively impacted her team, Marsh took her side.
“I told her she wasn’t. I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected, and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.” the Sky coach told the media after the game. However, that’s not how Whitlock sees it.