(Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images) Grant Afseth Mon, October 19, 2026 at 7:03 PM UTC · 5 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom plans to be in the stands at State Farm Arena on Wednesday night for Game 3 of the WNBA Finals between the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream.
He announced the trip Saturday in a post on X and said he would attend as a fan, The Associated Press reported. The league declined to comment to the AP on Freedom potentially attending the Finals.
Freedom wrote that he would be in Atlanta on Oct. 21. The rest of the post ran through Gabby Williams of the Valkyries.
"As you all know, this all started with an interview featuring Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries, when she said, 'I have no problem with trans athletes playing on my team or against my team,'" Freedom said in the post. "Her words gave me so much hope and motivation to come out as a woman and officially declare for the WNBA Draft. I can't wait to watch my favorite player, the woman who inspired me to become who I am today!"
In the interview, which circulated on social media in August, Williams said, "I would welcome a trans athlete on my team or against my team, anytime."
The last WNBA game Freedom attended was Aug. 23 at Wintrust Arena, where the Indiana Fever beat the Chicago Sky 113-90.
He sat along the baseline that night in a black shirt that read "WOMAN noun. adult human female."
With 1:22 left in the third quarter, Sky guard Natasha Cloud scored inside and the Fever called timeout. Cloud then walked toward Freedom, yelling and pointing, according to the AP.
Freedom stood, held his arms out, and stepped onto the court as security and several Sky players moved between them. He was escorted out of the arena.
Caitlin Clark scored 37 points and made a career-high eight 3-pointers for Indiana. NBC Sports said the game averaged 3.31 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, the most for a regular-season WNBA game since the league's inaugural season in 1997, and peaked at 3.82 million.
Freedom's post called it the most-watched game in league history. It ranks third among regular-season games.
The two ahead of it are both from the 1997 opening weekend on NBC: New York Liberty-Los Angeles Sparks at 5.04 million and Charlotte Sting-Phoenix Mercury at 3.59 million.
Two days after the game, the Sky banned Freedom from their home games .
Sky owner Michael Alter said Freedom is not allowed in Wintrust Arena for Sky games until he can prove to the team that he will follow its rules without being a potential threat.
"It was pretty clear to us that his purpose of coming here was trying to be provocative and just see how much attention he could get and stir up and create," Alter said at an Aug. 25 news conference.
On Sept. 3, Freedom sued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleging the ejection and the ban violated his First Amendment rights.
The complaint names Chicago Women's Basketball Operations LLC, which operates the Sky; the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns Wintrust Arena; and the city of Chicago. It says Freedom "poses absolutely no danger or immediate threat to public safety."
Alter called the lawsuit meritless and frivolous the next day in a statement released by the Sky.
"Freedom was removed for his conduct, not his speech," Alter said. "We look forward to the truth prevailing in court."
Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, declared for the April 2027 WNBA draft on Aug. 7, saying they identify as women.
That same day, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert sent a memo to team presidents and general managers saying the league would discuss transgender women in women's basketball.
A task force of team presidents and general managers took up the subject when it met virtually Aug. 12 . The meeting also covered online vitriol directed at players, and it produced no eligibility rules.
"There are no immediate eligibility matters affecting the WNBA, and we strongly denounce the bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean or marginalize others," a league spokesperson said in a statement.
On Aug. 24, a person familiar with the decision told the AP that Freedom and White are not eligible . The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.
The league's collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women. It contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.
There has never been a transgender woman, meaning a person assigned male at birth who transitions to align with their gender identity, on a WNBA roster.
Golden State won Game 1, 68-64, on Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Williams scored 26 points on 8-of-22 shooting , and Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 19 points. Angel Reese had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Dream.
Game 2 is Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Chase Center.
Game 3 tips off at 8 p.m. ET on USA Network and CNBC, with streaming on Peacock.
It was originally scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, at the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena. On Oct. 13, the WNBA moved it up a day and into the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena, which had a Sombr concert booked for the original date.
Game 4 is Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, also at State Farm Arena.
Source: Sports
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