Cameron Brink didn’t hold back when she was asked what she thought about Enes Kanter Freedom ongoing bid to enter next year’s WNBA draft after having played 11 seasons in the NBA.
The Los Angeles Sparks centre ripped into Freedom, calling him “a stupid piece of s***,” adding she thinks he’s “just trying to stay relevant.”
Freedom was ejected from his courtside seats during Sunday’s game between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever after getting into a verbal confrontation with Natasha Cloud. The former NBA big man was wearing a shirt that read, “Woman: Noun. Adult human female,” and shared several pictures and posts from the game on social media.
What else did Brink say?
Brink had been asked about the incident by The Mirror US ahead of her team’s game against the Atlanta Dream on Monday.
“For me personally, when it comes to the trans issues that I believe you’re talking about, I think it’s a non-issue and I think it’s people trying to come for the trans community and I just don’t stand for that,” she told the outlet. “I think what, I don’t even know what the f*** his name is, Enes Kanter, he’s a stupid piece of s*** and I think a lot of people think that. I think he’s just trying to stay relevant.
“I think people are tuned in for the right reasons and it’s great that we can all talk about things that are important and hard and you can have your opinions on that.
“But I think taking something that’s a non-issue right now and trying to use it for clickbait, for views, for likes, and then targeting a vulnerable community is just really low.”
What happened between Freedom and Cloud?
Freedom has tried his best to insert himself into the spotlight after Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham’s comments about transgender athletes last month sparked a wide-spread debate within the league.
On Sunday, Freedom had been sitting courtside in Chicago for the game between the Indiana Fever and Sky when the former NBA player got into a heated exchange with Sky guard Natasha Cloud during the third quarter.
Cloud and Freedom began arguing after a play and the two had to separated by officials, teammates and security before the former NBA player was escorted from the arena.
While it’s unclear from video of the incident what words were exchanged, Kanter claimed later in an interview that Cloud used some colourful language and said that Cunningham wasn’t “gonna sleep with you.”
“Sophie Cunningham shot a three, and I put my hands up to celebrate. Literally, a couple possessions later, Natasha came back and started screaming and yelling and said, ‘She’s not gonna sleep with you,'” Freedom told Outkick.
“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.’
Cloud has not commented on what was said during the incident, but has reaffirmed her support for the transgender community.
After the incident, CBS Chicago reported that several WNBA sources said they don’t think that Freedom and fellow former NBA player Royce White will be eligible for the draft and view their actions as attention-seeking behaviour.
A league source also told Front Office Sports they’re “publicity stunts” and the league is “not going to give oxygen to efforts designed to mock the league or use this topic to demean and marginalize others.”
The WNBA has yet to officially rule on the players’ eligibility.