Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Ryan won’t stay quiet after watching Enes Kanter Freedom get escorted out of Wintrust Arena Sunday night for defending female athletes. Ryan didn’t hold back in Freedom’s Instagram comments after the ejection, criticizing the WNBA for not standing up for female athletes as the league’s position on the trans issue continues to crumble. Matt Ryan of the Los Angeles Lakers stands for the National Anthem before a game against the San Antonio Spurs on November 26, 2022 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. (NBAE via Getty Images) He doesn’t understand why Enes is getting so much pressure. “We are living in crazy times,” Ryan commented on Freedom’s Instagram on Monday. “Being demonized for trying to PROTECT women’s sports and calling out the absurdity of the WNBA not being able to define what the W is…just unreal and sad. Hopefully you force them to come to their senses, be REAL leaders and protect future young women.” ‘BAD FAITH’ FANS WHO DON’T WANT BIOLOGICAL MEN RUINING WOMEN’S SPORTS Yan’s support for Enes came after Freedom was ejected late in the third quarter following a heated on-court exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Kanter Freedom was sitting on the baseline in support of Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, an outspoken advocate for protecting women’s sports. ENES KANTER FREEDOM OPENS INTO CONFRONTATION WITH NATASHA NUBE THAT LED TO EXPULSION, WNBA SEARCH Before kickoff, Freedom was greeted by a hostile crowd outside the arena. Instead of taking back his words after they went viral, Ryan pulled a Sophie Cunningham and turned to X to double down on his message. “Yes. This is an ’80-20′ theme, with [more than] 80% of the country has the most basic common sense: being able to clearly define what a woman is and recognize that someone who was not born a woman should not participate in women’s sports. There is no transphobia involved in this stance. Every human being in the US is free to live however they want. However, others should not be forced to adhere to absurdity for the sake of sentiment. “The W has a golden opportunity to be PRO-women and protect the integrity of their league. It shouldn’t be difficult. Enes has ZERO intention of setting foot on a WNBA court; if you can’t recognize that, I’m not sure how to help you. She is simply, and very publicly, challenging the highest league in women’s basketball to do the right thing.” Former Turkish-American basketball player and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom is seen before a game between Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, on August 23, 2026. (IMAGES IMAGES via Reuters Connect) In an interview with Fox News Digital’s Jackson Thompson after his ejection, Freedom explained what sparked the altercation. ALTERED WITH ENES KANTER FREEDOMAccording to Freedom, the drama began after a routine play by Cunningham. “Sophie Cunningham shot a three and I put my hands up in celebration,” Freedom told Fox News Digital. “Literally a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and saying, ‘She’s not going to sleep with you.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not trying to sleep with her.’ I’m just here to protect women and support them.’” ENES KANTER FREEDOM EXPOSES NATASHA CLOUD’S PROFANE SPOT ON ‘INGRAHAM ANGLE’ AFTER EXPULSION WNBAFreedom said Cloud immediately escalated the exchange with explicit language in front of family audiences. Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky watches before a game against the Indiana Fever at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, on August 23, 2026. (Getty Images) “He started using very heavy language, he started using bad language,” Freedom said. “I was very surprised 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 reaction from a WNBA athlete.” The on-court exchange nearly stole the spotlight from Indiana’s 113-90 blowout victory. Afterwards, Fever superstar Caitlin Clark said she did not see the incident and referred questions to Chicago. Fever head coach Stephanie White dismissed the incident as a “social media thing”, while Sky forward Azura Stevens called it a routine “fan incident”. Regardless of those attempts to downplay the scene, Freedom made it clear that the WNBA leadership faces a reckoning it can no longer dodge. about to face,” Freedom said. “They’re still trying to figure out what a woman is. So let’s see if they can figure it out…let’s see what kind of rules they’ll come up with.” With players like Ryan publicly endorsing Freedom and denouncing the league’s ideological confusion, the WNBA’s attempt to sweep the fallout from sand under the rug is quickly failing. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP Send us your thoughts: alejandro.avila@outkick.com / Follow us on X: @alejandroaveela Alejandro Ávila is a veteran writer at OutKick and lives in Southern California.
