A man defending women’s sports belongs in the seat he paid for
Freedom says he was barred from his purchased seats after reporting death threats; the WNBA’s commissioner has told lawmakers only women are eligible to play.
Adults defending women’s sports should be protected, not pushed aside: Enes Kanter Freedom was told on Wednesday night, Oct. 21, that he could not sit in the courtside seat he bought for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals in Atlanta. Fox News/OutKick reporter Jackson Thompson posted that Freedom "says he wants to sit in the seat that he purchased1."
Enes Kanter Freedom wrote on X on October 21, 2026: “Just talked to director of security of the @NBA and they are now banning us from our purchased seats. Shame on @WNBA I guess they have to escort me out of the building.” Shame on @WNBA I guess they have to escort me out of the building.”2 Since when does a ticket holder get steered to a suite for asking to sit where his ticket says?
“Just talked to director of security of the @NBA and they are now banning us from our purchased seats.”
Security should protect him, not hide him
Freedom told OutKick he had received "thousands of death threats" after announcing he would attend the game. The worst, he said, was a message warning that he would be "the next Charlie Kirk." His direct messages, he said, are "full of pictures and videos of the moment that Charlie Kirk got shot3."
He told OutKick: "So we are in touch with FBI. We have our own security." A spokesperson for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's office told OutKick: "Our office connected their team with the appropriate law enforcement resources3."
The venue's best answer is the one the Chicago Sky gave after Freedom's Aug. 23 removal from a game there: owner Michael Alter said security removed him because of his conduct rather than his speech. Freedom has already answered that for Atlanta: "I'm not going to cross the baseline or the sideline3." A guest who has a private security team, says he is in touch with the FBI, and has a governor's office working on his safety does not need to be moved out of his seat, so why was he?
The league already says only women can play
The WNBA's own commissioner has already said who may play. Freedom and fellow former NBA player Royce White announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA draft while saying they identify as women, OutKick reports. In an Oct. 16 letter to Republican lawmakers, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert replied that "only women are eligible to play in the WNBA and the individuals you cite in your letter are both men3."
Freedom has said he wants the league to adopt an explicit eligibility restriction based on biological sex. He told OutKick his reason for going to Atlanta: "No, I'm going there to support women, protect women, and make sure that I enjoy the game3." If the commissioner will put the rule in a letter to lawmakers, why will the league not put it in its eligibility rules?
Washington voters can put girls’ rule in writing
In Atlanta, a man defending women's sports was offered a suite. Neither answer protects the girls whose sports are the subject of both scenes. The lasting answer is a written sex-based rule, and in Washington that decision belongs to the voters and the lawmakers they elect.
Parents should demand protection, not silence
Every parent with a daughter on a team has a stake in whether the rule is written down and enforced. Freedom says he went to Atlanta "to support all these hardworking women, especially Gabby Williams and Angel Reese3." A league can secure its arena and uphold its rule at the same time.
Parents should put these questions to the WNBA and the NBA, and to every lawmaker who answers to them. Will the WNBA write into its eligibility rules the standard Commissioner Engelbert stated to lawmakers on Oct. 16—that only women are eligible to play3—yes or no? Will the league and the NBA explain why a threatened ticket holder was told to give up his courtside seat, yes or no? Will Washington's elected officials say plainly that girls' sports are for girls, yes or no?
Sources
- @JackThompsonFOX on X, 2026-10-21: Enes Kanter-Freedom is being told he can not sit in the courtside seat he purchased at tonights WNBA Finals Game 3, and is being told he can sit in a suite. Freedom says he wants to sit in the seat that he purchased. https://x.com/EnesFreedom/status/21130, 2026-10-21
- @EnesFreedom on X, 2026-10-21: 🚨 ATTENTION! Just talked to director of security of the @NBA and they are now banning us from our purchased seats. Shame on @WNBA I guess they have to escort me out of the building. Stay tuned. https://x.com/EnesFreedom/status/2113047864414961808/video/1, 2026-10-21
- Enes Kanter Freedom in touch with FBI after death threats over WNBA Finals plans: 'Wish he got Charlie Kirk'd' | OutKick
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