Enes Kanter was ejected from Wintrust Arena after a verbal altercation with Chicago guard Natasha Cloud during the third quarter of the Sky’s game against the Indiana Fever on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Chicago Sky owner Michael Alter explained why the former NBA veteran was escorted from the arena without prior warning.
Chicago Sky Owner Michael Alter Sheds Light On Enes Kanter’s Automatic Ejection
In an interview with Outkick this week, Alter addressed the team’s decision to eject and subsequently ban Kanter from the arena at future events. The Sky owner said the former NBA player was deemed a threat during the game, resulting in an automatic ejection.
Alter said that the Turkish-American center, who was wearing a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female” in the arena, was allowed to sit courtside and watch the Fever-Sky game’s proceedings.
“He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings,” the Chicago Sky owner said of Kanter. “He was given a lot of leeway. As I said, he was sitting there, and he was trash-talking her (Cloud) and all that. So he was certainly given leeway.”
Sky owner Michael Alter told me why Enes Kanter Freedom was not given a warning before being ejected.
“He wasn’t given a warning because certain threats don’t get warnings…
“To use an extreme example, uh, when you, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning,…
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) August 26, 2026
Alter defended the actions of the team and security officials regarding Kanter, drawing an analogy to law enforcement procedures.
“But at a certain point, to use an extreme example, when you shoot a gun at someone, you don’t get a warning. Your action doesn’t deserve a warning,” the Sky owner said. “You take action becomes a threat, you don’t get a warning.”
In a previous interview, the billionaire real estate developer said that it was the NBA veteran who initiated the exchange with Cloud. He also asked Kanter to stop playing the victim.
Kanter, meanwhile, claimed in a letter to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert that he was not warned before being ejected from the arena. He cited the league’s fan code of conduct and asserted that he received unfair treatment.
“I remained fully aware that I could not step onto the court and ensured my presence and expression complied with applicable standards,” the letter stated. “In other words, I followed your rules.”
“According to the WNBA Fan Code of Conduct, a spectator should be issued a warning for any alleged violation before being forced to leave the game,” Kanter wrote. “I received no such warning prior to my ejection.”
