WNBA team owner Michael Alter may want to rethink his choice of words the next time he gives an interview.
Following an incident at Wintrust Arena in Chicago last Sunday, the sports world wanted to hear what the owner had to say about a pro-women protest by former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom during a Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game.
‘He needs to check himself.’
Following a courtside exchange with Chicago Sky point guard Natasha Cloud — which included him standing up and raising his arms — Freedom was promptly ejected from the arena.
This was followed by Alter, the principal owner of the Sky, banning Freedom from the arena later in the week. The owner said Freedom had “the potential to be a threat,” accusing him of stepping “towards the court” and “towards the players.”
On Wednesday, Fox News’ OutKick asked Alter to explain why Freedom did not get a warning before he was kicked out of the arena.
“You’re kind of making me repeat over and over. So I think at some point we need to move on. But he wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings,” Alter is heard saying in an audio clip. “He was given a lot of leeway. As I said, he was sitting there, and he was trash-talking [Cloud] and, and all that.”
The owner continued, comparing Freedom’s actions to shooting a person in a metaphor he might soon regret using.
“[Freedom] was certainly given leeway, but at a certain point, you know, when somebody, I mean, to use an extreme example, when you, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning. ‘Don’t do that again.’ Your action doesn’t deserve a warning. “
The owner reiterated that if a person takes an action “that becomes a threat,” they “don’t get a warning.”
Freedom responded to the statement in a subsequent podcast with OutKick and seemed flabbergasted at the comparison.
“The Chicago Sky owner, Michael Alter, literally compared my actions with shooting a gun. Unbelievable,” the Turkey native stated.
“He needs to check himself. This is unacceptable,” Freedom later said.
Freedom went on explain that after playing in the NBA for 11 years, he’s quite familiar with the rules surrounding fan interactions with players.
“If a fan steps over the baseline or the sideline, you will be thrown out of the game,” Freedom explained. “Fans are not allowed to touch players, right? Anything other than that, you’re allowed to do, which, I wasn’t even trash-talking to her. Let me just make that very clear.”
Freedom maintained that he simply told Cloud he was at the game to help protect women, wearing a shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”
He did not heckle or cuss at Cloud, although she used bad language toward him, the 6’10” center claimed.
The conversation culminated with Freedom saying he has plans to take legal action against Alter and the Sky, but not necessarily the WNBA. At the very least, he added that he would demand a refund as a paying customer who did nothing wrong.
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Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Alter, overall, has continually boasted about the arena security who immediately reprimanded Freedom during the game and escorted him out.
“The security were there to stop him. … The Indiana Fever guy was right there. He was right in front of him. The guy from the arena, Monterey, was right there. It took a second for Chicago’s guys to go to get there, but they got there pretty damn fast,” Alter said, per Fox News. “I can’t tell you what his intent was beyond his actions. I don’t know what was in his head, OK? Neither do you. And if he tells you what’s his intent based on the other things he’s told you, you have to know he is completely unreliable.”
As for whether the ban is permanent, Alter said Freedom would not be permitted into the arena until “he can prove” he is able to control himself.
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Enes kanter freedom, Wnba, Chicago sky, Basketball, Sports, Womens sports