Chicago Sky owner goes nuclear defending Enes Kanter Freedom ban: Think ‘shooting a gun’

BS BULLETIN:

Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter says Enes Kanter Freedom became a “potential threat” when he took a step toward the court.
Asked why Freedom wasn’t warned before being tossed, Alter compared the situation to someone shooting a gun.
Alter admits he doesn’t know whether Freedom actually stepped onto the court — while Sky player Natasha Cloud apparently faces no discipline.

Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter has found one heck of a way to defend tossing Enes Kanter Freedom out of a WNBA game. Compare him to someone shooting a gun.

Freedom was booted from Sunday’s Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever game after a heated exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud. Freedom was sitting courtside wearing a shirt reading, “WOMAN noun. adult human female,” when Cloud approached his area and the two began jawing at each other.

The Sky subsequently banned Freedom from Wintrust Arena, with Alter declaring that the former NBA player became a “potential threat” when he moved toward the court. “That’s when he became a potential threat,” Alter told OutKick in an interview published Wednesday.

Freedom has argued that he never stepped onto the court and questioned why security didn’t simply warn him.

Alter’s answer was extraordinary. “He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings,” Alter told OutKick.

“To use an extreme example,” Alter said, “when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning.”

Yes. A former NBA player taking a step toward a WNBA court during an argument apparently required the firearms comparison.

Alter acknowledged that he doesn’t actually know whether Freedom stepped onto the court. Video shows Freedom moving toward the baseline before security quickly intervened, but Alter told OutKick he could not say that Freedom actually crossed onto the playing surface.

Meanwhile, Cloud’s role is apparently another matter entirely.

Alter acknowledged that Cloud participated in the confrontation — “They were going back and forth” — but said the Sky had not determined that she violated any rules and repeatedly resisted questions about whether her conduct would be reviewed. “I’m not here to talk to you about Natasha Cloud,” Alter eventually told OutKick.

Freedom has now formally asked the WNBA to review the incident and refund his ticket, accusing the league of selectively enforcing its rules because of his views. “I should not be treated differently because the League, its players, or personnel disagree with my viewpoint,” Freedom wrote in his letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

MY QUICK TAKE

A guy in a politically incorrect T-shirt gets into a verbal spat with a player, takes a step toward the court and is immediately surrounded by security.

And somehow we’ve arrived at shooting-a-gun analogies.

If the Sky wanted to convince people this was a routine security decision rather than an ideological circus, I’m not sure comparing Enes Kanter Freedom to an armed shooter was the winning play.

DBS WIRE SOURCES