Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom is refusing to back away from his stated plan to pursue a place in the WNBA, even as reports claim league officials have deemed him ineligible for the 2027 Draft amid a growing controversy.

Kanter Freedom has drawn widespread attention in recent weeks after saying he had “declared” for next year’s draft, inserting himself into the ongoing debate over transgender participation in women’s sports.

On Monday, reports surfaced that the WNBA had determined Kanter Freedom — as well as former NBA player Royce White, who has also said he wants to enter the draft — would not be eligible to compete in the league.

The development came less than a day after Kanter Freedom was removed from a WNBA game following a confrontation with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud.

During the Sky’s matchup against the Indiana Fever, Cloud approached Freedom, who was sitting courtside in a move that had already sparked controversy, and the exchange quickly escalated into a heated argument.

In a viral clip of the incident, the pair could be seen shouting at each other before the former New York Knicks and Oklahoma City Thunder player stood up and held his arms out, while Cloud was held back by security.

Speaking to Fox News on Monday afternoon, Kanter Freedom pushed back on the reported decision. “Listen, Article 13 Section 1 says if you identify as a woman, then you are allowed to play! I identify as a woman, so yes, I can play,” he said.

He added: ‘They’re terrified because I might actually get drafted and play against their big men. I’m probably going to drop 60 points.’

In the WNBA’s current collective bargaining agreement, it states ‘only players who are women are eligible to play.’ But there is no specific definition of a woman. 

According to Front Office Sports, a league representative said that the WNBA is ‘not going to give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalize others.’ 

When it was put to the 34-year-old that he will never be allowed to play in the WNBA, he responded: ‘Why not? That’s the rules. I’m just following the rules. 

‘If they ever come out and say: “Okay, we’re changing the rules.” I respect their decision, I will follow the rules. But right now, if you identify as a woman, you’re allowed to play. And I am identifying as a woman and I should be allowed to play.’

During his appearance at Wintrust Arena on Sunday night, the ex-NBA star wore a provocative t-shirt that included a definition of the word woman. ‘Woman. Noun,’ it read. ‘Adult human female.’ The words woman and female were highlighted in red.’

He was later kicked out of the game but on Monday, Kanter Freedom dismissed suggestions that he is banned from future WNBA games. 

In fact, the 34-year-old claimed he would be attending every Indiana Fever game during the upcoming WNBA playoffs. 

‘I have not heard it [about an arena ban],’ he said. If there is any news out there, please don’t listen to those sources because it’s all fake news. 

‘I did not break any kind of rules. I did not step over the baseline, I simply got up and just opened my arms. So they should not be banning me from any games and I am so excited for the playoffs. 

‘I cannot wait to go to every playoff game that Indiana Fever plays. It’s going to be fun because I’m a fan of the game.’

Fever games have been targeted by protests and counter protests in recent weeks after Sophie Cunningham sparked a war of words by claiming she wants to ‘protect young girls… who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.’

During his interview on Monday, Kanter Freedom branded Cunningham a ‘national treasure’ who ‘should be protected at all costs.’

‘She is an American hero,’ he told Fox. ‘Because she’s not only inspiring young girls in America but all over the world. So she is an idol, a hero.’

The 6ft 10ins Freedom previously alleged that it was Cloud who initiated their courtside confrontation and told him that Cunningham ‘won’t sleep with you.’

He told OutKick: ‘Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple [of] possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, “She’s not gonna sleep with you.”

‘And I was like, “I am not trying to sleep with her. I’m just here to protect women and support her.” And then, obviously, after that, she started yapping, and she started to walk towards me, and literally I just got up, and then I was like, “I’m just here to protect women, and that’s all.” 

‘She started to yell. She started to use some very heavy language. She started to actually cuss, and I was very shocked that there were a lot of kids and that there were a lot of teenagers at that game.

‘I just cannot believe that she was just cussing and using those F-bombs in front of all these kids. I’m sure she’s loved in Chicago and many kids are idolizing her and stuff, but that’s not how a WNBA athlete should react.’

Taking to X after he was removed by security, Freedom wrote: ‘I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!’

He also wrote: ‘It’s always women hating on other women’.