Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Ryan has publicly sided with Enes Kanter Freedom, who was escorted from Wintrust Arena on Sunday night following an incident during a WNBA game. Ryan voiced his disapproval of the WNBA's handling of issues surrounding female athletes, particularly its position on transgender participation.
Ryan expressed his views in the comments section of Freedom's Instagram post after the ejection, critiquing the WNBA for what he perceives as a failure to uphold the integrity of women's sports, especially as debates intensify around the league's transgender policy.
He questioned why Freedom was facing such significant backlash for his stance.
"Just insane times we are living in," Ryan commented on Freedom’s Instagram on Monday. "Getting demonized for trying to PROTECT women's sports and calling out the absurdity that the WNBA cannot define what the W is... just unreal and sad. Hopefully you'll force them to come to their senses, be REAL leaders, and protect the future young women."
The Courtside Incident Involving Kanter Freedom
Ryan's support emerged after Kanter Freedom was removed late in the third quarter following a heated exchange with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Freedom was seated courtside, visibly supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, a vocal advocate for safeguarding women's sports.
Before the game even began, Freedom encountered a hostile reception from a crowd outside the arena.
Instead of retracting his statements as they gained traction online, Ryan, much like Cunningham, doubled down on his message, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to further elaborate on his position.
"Yes. This is an '80-20' topic, with [more than] 80% of the country having the most basic of common sense - being able to clearly define what a woman is, and recognizing someone not born as a woman should not participate in women’s sports. There is no transphobia involved in this stance. Every human in the US is free to live as they choose. However, others should not be forced to adhere to absurdity for the sake of feelings."
Ryan continued, emphasizing what he believes is an opportunity for the league:
"The W has a golden opportunity to be PRO- women and protect their league’s integrity. It shouldn’t be difficult. Enes has ZERO intention of stepping foot on a WNBA court - if you can’t recognize that I’m not sure how to help you. He’s simply, and very publicly, challenging the highest league in women’s basketball to do what is right."
Freedom's Account of the Confrontation
According to Freedom, the dispute began during a routine play involving Cunningham. Freedom stated that Cloud immediately escalated the interaction by using explicit language, despite the presence of families and children at the game.
"She started to use some very heavy language, she started to actually cuss," Freedom recalled. "I was very shocked that there were a lot of kids and teenagers at that game... using those F-bombs in front of all these kids. That’s not a WNBA athlete reaction."
The courtside confrontation nearly overshadowed Indiana's dominant 113-90 victory. Following the game, Fever star Caitlin Clark indicated she did not witness the incident and directed inquiries to the Chicago team. Fever head coach Stephanie White dismissed the event as merely a "social media thing," while Sky forward Azura Stevens described it as a typical "fan incident."
WNBA Facing Scrutiny Over Policies
Despite attempts by some to downplay the situation, Freedom asserted that WNBA leadership faces a significant challenge that they can no longer avoid.
"The WNBA has no idea what they're about to face," Freedom observed. "They're still trying to figure out what a woman is. So let's see if they can figure that out... let's see what kind of rules that they're gonna come up with."
With prominent figures like Matt Ryan publicly endorsing Freedom's views and questioning the league's ideological stance, efforts by the WNBA to mitigate the fallout from the arena incident appear to be proving difficult.