Following his declaration for the 2027 WNBA draft, Enes Kanter Freedom’s decision to attend the August 23 matchup between the Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky led to a heated interaction with Natasha Cloud. As the debate around transgender athletes in women’s sports continues, the veteran Sky guard has found support from Fever star Sophie Cunningham’s ex-teammate.
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“Yea @t__cloud9 I like thaaatttt😏,” former Fever player Sydney Colson wrote on Threads, following Cloud’s confrontation, tagging Cloud.
The confrontation occurred in the third quarter of the game between the Fever and the Chicago Sky. Freedom was present at the game, seated near the baseline wearing a shirt that displayed the definition of a “woman.” As Cloud scored, he started exchanging words with the guard. Cloud had to be pulled back by teammates, and Freedom, who had stepped towards the court, was escorted out of the arena by security.
Colson played the 2025 WNBA season for the Fever before sitting out the 2026 season to rehabilitate her torn ACL. Notably, this was not Colson’s first time getting involved in the Sophie Cunningham controversy. During the Fever-Sky game on August 8, Carrington was ejected after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for hitting Cunningham, leading to Colson making a joke at her expense.
“Love a trans foul,” she posted to Threads, later explaining that she was just indulging in wordplay.
“I, watching this moment, said, ‘Hmm, well, Sophie’s involved, and actually she’s had things to say off-court about transition that a lot of people, including ourselves, don’t agree with,'” she said during an August 13 episode of the Unsupervised podcast.
Freedom, meanwhile, has gotten involved in the controversy following Sophie Cunningham’s initial comments about trans athletes to ESPN in a profile released on July 21. Afterward, the former NBA center inserted himself into the debate after declaring for the 2027 WNBA Draft in an attempt to challenge the league’s eligibility rules.
This led to the WNBA organizing a meeting with several general managers and team presidents as an anti-hate task force, concluding that there are “no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA” in a statement released on August 12.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Freedom and Cloud have publicly clashed, with their last exchange happening in 2023. On June 30 of that year, Cloud released a long statement on X criticizing the state of the United States and its treatment of marginalized communities.
In response, Freedom called her out on July 5 on X and Fox News.
“I still cannot understand how lucky and blessed they are to be in a country where you can say whatever you want to say and you’re not going to be in jail.”
Cloud responded to his criticism in a post on X the next day, highlighting that she had respect for Freedom’s path and “lived experience in his country,” but adding her own perspective as well.
“I would expect him to have the same respect for MY lived experience as a black gay woman in my country. You have no idea what it means to walk my journey or anyone else’s for that matter,” she added.
Colson’s support of Cloud adds another new layer to an already heated debate. While the controversy about transgender participation in the W rages on, Natasha Cloud and the Sky will now look forward to facing the Connecticut Sun on August 25.