Enes Kanter Freedom revealed on  Fox News’ The Big Weekend Show that Sophie Cunningham reached out after his ejection from the Indiana Fever vs. Chicago Sky game on August 23.

Kanter Freedom appeared on the show and said the two exchanged text messages after his ejection from Wintrust Arena in Chicago. According to Kanter Freedom, Cunningham asked him, “What happened?”

Kanter Freedom said he answered, “I just got up and opened my arms in the air and said, ‘I’m here to protect my friends.’” 

He has not revealed screenshots of their conversation, the rest of the conversation, or who texted first. He stated that their relationship is a friendship grounded in shared views on women’s sports. 

“She’s standing for the truth… I think she’s an idol now and an American hero,” Kanter said. “I’m just really happy that finally someone from the WNBA got up and said, ‘Enough is enough. We have to stand for American values.’” 

Cunningham previously said she wanted to “protect young girls” from competing against “biological men,” while rejecting claims that she hates transgender people. She has not publicly joined a broader campaign against the WNBA’s eligibility policies, unlike Kanter Freedom, who has.

Kanter Freedom has declared for the 2027 WNBA draft, demanded that the league revise its eligibility language, and challenged Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to a public summit.

Kanter Freedom said his support for Cunningham brought him courtside for the Fever-Sky matchup. After Chicago guard Natasha Cloud directed comments toward him, Kanter Freedom stood up and extended his arms before he began to move toward the court, before security escorted him from the arena. 

Kanter Freedom sued the Sky and other defendants over his ban and ejection. He stated that his speech was unlawfully punished.  Sky owner Michael Alter called the complaint “meritless and frivolous, stating that the ban was due to his actions, not his shirt.

As of now, Cunningham has not publicly acknowledged her friendship with Kanter Freedom.

Sophie Cunningham took a shot at current WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, saying the WNBA needs a “bold” commissioner who wants the best for the league and its players, not just themselves.

This suggests Cunningham is not a fan of Engelbert’s leadership at this important time for the league, as popularity is on the rise.

A wide range of topics were discussed regarding the WNBA’s leadership and Engelbert’s future, with one source saying the commissioner position “could be open at the end of the year,” according to USA Today.

“[Cathy Engelbert] has done a lot of good things, but with where our league is trying to go, I feel like you just want someone who also wants that. That’s just a hard position to be in, in her shoes, us as players ― we always want more, more, more because we see how good it can be,” Cunningham expressed. “You do have to have a person in power who is bold, who is confident, who wants the best for the players and not maybe for themselves all the time.”

Cunningham does not believe that a new WNBA commissioner solves the problem on its own either. She believes that the future of the WNBA is “up to Adam Silver.”

Cunningham has become one of the faces of the sport in the WNBA because she voices her opinions, even when they’re deemed controversial.

With the growing controversy of the WNBA and transgender athletes, Cunningham was one of the main stars to speak out and give their stance on the issue. She understands that even though basketball is the main focus, what she says will always be a story.

“When you do have so many eyes on you … that people can use your words for the positive. People can weaponize your words,” Cunningham said.

The Fever star will continue to be a headline as the WNBA season continues. The Fever currently sit fifth and have clinched a playoff berth.

The WNBA is expected to fine New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones $500 after she picked up a technical foul during the Indiana Fever’s 106-92 win over the Liberty on Tuesday night, unless the league opts to rescind the call.

With 1:10 left in the third quarter and Indiana leading 81-68, Sophie Cunningham was whistled for a personal foul after holding Jones. Officials then hit Jones with a technical foul on the ensuing play, costing New York a missed free throw from Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell. It marked the first technical of the season for Jones.

A Costly Call Under the New CBA

Under the WNBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, penalties for technical fouls have increased significantly. Players are now fined $500 for each of their first three technicals and $1,000 for their fourth through seventh, with a warning letter issued after the fifth. Beginning with a player’s eighth technical, fines jump to $1,500, and suspensions kick in for every other technical from that point on — including the eighth, 10th and 12th.

Jones isn’t the only Liberty player who has run afoul of the new rules this season; teammates Satou Sabally, Han Xu and Sabrina Ionescu have also drawn technical-foul fines, while head coach Chris DeMarco leads the team with five technicals of his own.

Fever Roll to Second Straight Win

The technical overshadowed an otherwise solid night for Jones, who finished with a double-double of 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 10 rebounds. It wasn’t enough to slow Indiana, which improved to 21-12 and leapfrogged the Atlanta Dream in the standings. Caitlin Clark posted 22 points, four rebounds and 10 assists, while Mitchell added 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting.

New York fell to 20-14 and will host the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday, while Indiana turns its attention to a Friday matchup against the Dallas Wings.

Sophie Cunningham‘s now-famous 22-second stare-down with DeWanna Bonner has spawned one of the WNBA’s biggest cultural moments in years, but fans hoping to buy the officially branded version of the gesture are out of luck.

The moment happened when the Indiana Fever guard aimed an extended, silent finger-point at the Phoenix Mercury forward during a late-June matchup, an interaction that quickly snowballed into memes across social media — the White House’s own X account even joined in. The clip has since padded Cunningham’s following by nearly a million on Instagram alone.

Despite that reach, the Women’s National Basketball Players Association has told its licensing partners to steer clear of the image.

The union is barring companies from producing goods built around what it labeled a “derogatory” exchange between two of its own members.

That restriction covers major partners such as 2K, Panini, New Era, Lids, BreakingT, Aflac, JPMorgan Chase and Funko.

Crucially, the ban only applies to union-affiliated licensees — it doesn’t stop Cunningham herself from cashing in. She retains full control over her own name, image and likeness, meaning she could strike her own apparel or merchandise deal independent of WNBPA-approved brands, even partnering with companies that already hold union licenses if she chose. The union is essentially staying out of it rather than shutting the door.

There’s precedent for a player doing exactly that: in 2021, Kahleah Copper turned a staredown with Cunningham during the Finals into her own line of T-shirts. Unlicensed sellers have already moved in on Cunningham’s moment too, with shirts referencing the pointing gesture popping up on Etsy, TeePublic and Shein.

Cunningham hasn’t shied away from the newfound attention regardless of merchandising restrictions. She’s appeared as a UFC octagon girl and, during a podcast appearance with Shannon Spake, referred to Bonner as “Miss Priss.”

On the court, the moment hasn’t overshadowed a solid season: Cunningham is putting up 9.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while connecting on 43.7% of her three-point attempts, good for ninth-best league-wide.

A sex toy landed near Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham after it was thrown from the stands in Los Angeles while the Fever played the Sparks on Tuesday night, the latest such incident to interrupt a WNBA game in the past seven days.

The incident at Crypto.com Arena occurred with 2:05 left in the second quarter, with the green object landing in the lane near Cunningham, who had been vocal on social media about fans throwing the toys onto the court. The Fever forward jumped back in surprise, and then Kelsey Plum kicked the object in the stands.

“I think it’s ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said after her team’s 100-91 win. “It’s also dangerous, and players’ safety is No. 1. Respecting the game. All of those things. I think it’s really stupid.”

Plum added that she thought both teams did a great job “playing on, don’t give it any attention. The refs too, I really appreciate them too, was just like, ‘Hey, let’s go.'”

Cunningham walked over to the Sparks bench and was laughing about it.

“We don’t know who those people are … we come to play the game and people want to see us play,” Fever coach Stephanie White said when asked about the disruption. “I think it’s just that simple, and we can’t control everybody’s actions.”

According to social media posts, green toys were also thrown in Phoenix and New York on Tuesday night but didn’t reach the court. The one at Barclays Center landed near a child.

A week ago, the first incident occurred in Atlanta late in the fourth quarter of the Dream’s game against Golden State in College Park, Georgia. The man alleged to have been responsible for the incident, Delbert Carver, was arrested Saturday, according to police in College Park. He faces counts of disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure and criminal trespass, according to law enforcement records.

Former Phoenix Suns director of safety, security and risk management Gene Traylor filed a lawsuit against the organization last week alleging racial discrimination, unlawful retaliation and security problems. But one part of the lawsuit stood out: a story about an interaction Traylor had with Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein.

Traylor allegedly told Bartelstein that vice president of security and risk management Cornelius Craig had been spreading damaging information about the organization. “When Bartelstein asked Plaintiff to reveal what Craig was saying,” reads the lawsuit, “Plaintiff explained that Craig had been telling others, ‘Josh Bartelstein is f–-ing Sophie Cunningham.’”

Cunningham, 28, spent the first six years of her WNBA career with the Phoenix Mercury, which Bartelstein also owns. She was traded this year to the Indiana Fever.

She and Bartelstein, who is married, both denied the allegations vehemently.

“The recent reports concerning Josh Bartelstein and Sophie Cunningham are entirely false and morally reprehensible,” reads the Suns’ statement. “Let’s absolutely be clear about the origins of these claims.”

The team, which has been sued four times in the past seven months by former employees, accused attorney Sheree Wright of attempting to extort them. “She continues to insert salacious lies and fabrications into her complaints—knowing that the media may report them as fact, as happened yesterday [with the Cunningham story]—she hopes to coerce the Phoenix Suns into settling. Sheree Wright will not extort our organization and never see a single dollar.”

Cunningham, in turn, issued a much more personal statement calling the allegations “untrue and extremely hurtful.”

“I am here to compete, play basketball at the highest level and win for my team and my fans, while inspiring other women that they can do or be anything they ever dream of becoming… I will not let untrue gossip take my focus away from what is most important to me, which is basketball, my supportive teams and my fans.”