‘The next Charlie Kirk’: Enes Kanter Freedom says he contacted FBI over death threats ahead of WNBA Finals game

Former National Basketball Association (NBA) player and outspoken women’s sports advocate Enes Kanter Freedom said he contacted the FBI after receiving “thousands of death threats” over his plans to attend Game 3 of the WNBA Finals Oct. 21. Hours later, he said arena officials denied him entry after he declined to watch the game from a designated suite. 

In an interview with OutKick published before the game, Freedom said the threats poured in after he announced he would attend the matchup between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Among the messages, he said, were warnings that he would become “the next Charlie Kirk,” along with images and videos of the conservative activist’s fatal shooting. 

“Look, I'm just simply saying that I'm going to be attending the game. My DMs are full of pictures and videos of the moment that Charlie Kirk got shot, and they’re saying that you’re going to be next very soon,” Freedom told OutKick. “It’s a shame.”

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He said he was in touch with the FBI and had arranged his own security to attend the game. Freedom also told the outlet that Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s office had also provided him with security. A spokesperson for Kemp’s office told OutKick the office had been connected with Freedom’s team with appropriate law enforcement resources.

“There’s going to be a lot of FBI officers around the game, and they will be protecting us,” he told OutKick.

Freedom also shared a video compilation on social media Oct. 20 showing threatening messages ahead of his trip to Atlanta.

“What’s up, Atlanta? I heard y’all loud and clear,” Freedom wrote in a statement accompanying the video. “Let me remind y’all one thing, I fear God and God alone.”

Before the game, arena officials cited those safety concerns in directing Freedom to a private suite. In a statement cited by ESPN, the arena said it had designated the suite as Freedom’s viewing location after consulting with the WNBA, Dream ownership, State Farm Arena leadership, and security officials. 

Freedom objected, saying in an X post shortly before the game that arena security had banned his team “from our purchased seats.” Later, he posted a video at halftime that showed him being told at the entry gate that if he entered, he had to “agree to go to the suite.” 

“I purchased tickets, right?” Freedom responded. “Just because I purchased tickets, I would like to sit in my seat. That’s all I want.”

Officers ultimately told Freedom to leave the arena property, saying he “just can’t be here.”

The former center, known for his vocal opposition to men competing in women’s sports, previously drew national attention in August when he announced his plan to enter the 2027 WNBA draft to challenge the league’s eligibility rules. Fellow former NBA player Royce White also said he would enter the draft.

“If simply declaring who you are is all that’s required, then I meet every single requirement necessary to compete in the WNBA,” he said at the time.

Weeks later, he was ejected from a Chicago Sky game after a courtside confrontation with Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud, who reportedly took issue with his position on women’s sports, as Zeale News previously reported. During the game, he wore a T-shirt bearing the slogan “WOMAN, noun. adult human female.” Freedom has since filed a federal lawsuit over the incident.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told Republican lawmakers in an Oct. 16 letter that Freedom and White were ineligible to play in the league because they are “both men.” Engelbert said “only women are eligible to play in the WNBA” but did not supply the definition of “women” that lawmakers specifically requested. 

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“WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has declared that I am a man,” Freedom said in an X post responding to the letter. “Who gave her the authority to decide who I am? Who gets to define my identity? And how can the WNBA determine who is a man without explaining what qualifies someone as a woman?”

Another women’s sports advocate, Jennifer Sey, who founded the apparel company XX-XY Athletics, said she also faced harassment while attending the Finals, as Zeale News previously reported. Sey, who wore an XX-XY Athletics shirt to the game, said Valkyries fans shouted insults, made obscene gestures, and told her to kill herself during Game 1 on Oct. 17.