Enes Kanter Freedom has filed a federal lawsuit against the Chicago Sky, the city of Chicago and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority over his removal from a WNBA game last month at Wintrust Arena, and a day later he used the news of the league’s leadership change to pitch himself as the next WNBA commissioner.
The lawsuit stems from Kanter’s ejection during the Sky’s Aug. 23 game against the Indiana Fever. Kanter said the incident began after he celebrated a three-pointer by Fever player Sophie Cunningham, which led to a heated exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud and his removal from the arena.
The suit names the Chicago Sky, the city of Chicago and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority as defendants, arguing he was unfairly forced out of the game.
Commissioner pitch follows lawsuit
One day after filing suit, Kanter turned his attention to news that WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert plans to step down after this season. Kanter, a former NBA player who has spent months campaigning against the league’s transgender-athlete policy, offered himself as her replacement in a series of posts on X.
“MAKE @WNBA FEMALE AGAIN,” he wrote, adding: “Commissioner Freedom Has a Nice Ring to It.”
Kanter framed Engelbert’s exit as a victory for women’s sports but said it wouldn’t fix what he sees as deeper problems within the league.
“While the reported retirement of #WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is a win for women and an admission that the league’s rules must change, her retirement does not solve the systemic issues which must be addressed to protect women’s sports,” Kanter said. “If the WNBA is unable to define what a woman is, then I, Enes Kanter Freedom, would be more than happy to step in as commissioner and lead this league back to greatness and restore fairness for all women. I’ll bring common sense. I’ll bring fairness. And yes, I’ll bring a dictionary.”
Kanter has been pressing the issue since declaring himself eligible for the WNBA’s 2027 draft, a move the league rejected, calling it a “publicity stunt” without publicly detailing its reasoning.
Reaction on X was split. One user accused Kanter of using the controversy to draw attention back to himself, while another argued that Caitlin Clark, not Engelbert, has been the real driver of the WNBA’s recent growth.
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