Another episode of Megan Rapinoe's "Why Are You Like This?" podcast has led to the former USWNT star chiming in about the latest in the WNBA, specifically Enes Kanter Freedom being ejected from the Chicago Sky-Indiana Fever game this past weekend.
Rapinoe started her latest podcast episode discussing the situation where Freedom was escorted out in the third quarter of the Sky's loss to the Fever, which involved Chicago's Natasha Cloud.
Cloud had scored a basket, which led to a Fever timeout. She then directed her emotion toward Freedom, who was sitting near the basket at Wintrust Arena. That led the former NBA center to stand up and walk toward her. Sky players and security got in between the two. Sky officials explained to OutKick later Tuesday that security and Chicago police determined Freedom was a threat, leading to his being escorted out and eventually barred from Wintrust Arena.
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Freedom later told OutKick in an exclusive interview that Cloud allegedly said, "She's not gonna sleep with you," referring to Fever star Sophie Cunningham, who has been in the middle of controversy after her thoughts on keeping biological men out of women's sports.
"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.'"
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Well, Rapinoe caught wind of Freedom's comments, and gave quite the sarcastic diatribe about them.
"He later, in continuing the absolute grift that was this whole thing, gave some quotes to OutKick Sports and Fox News - no surprise there. Saying that he was just out there to protect women. Well, oh my God, thank you so much because that's what we were asking for," Rapinoe said in a mocking tone.
"In fairness, you did warn us about men forcing their way into WNBA spaces. Lo and behold…Oh, you weren't talking about yourself? OK. People who are 'trying to protect women.' First of all, from who? From who? It's yourself. It's a big mirror. Y'all are the same people who were, like, s----ing on the league and its athletes from before, saying it was bad business and no one cared. You're the same people who were banning people from playing soccer in the 1950s. You're the same type of people.
"Oh, but now they care about it a lot, don't they? Because they're seeing the success and the power the league has, and they're seeing how popular it is and seeing how everybody loves it and how lit of a space it is. So, now they really care. So, they are going to try and continue coming after the W and other women's sports leagues and its athletes after seeing all the power they have."
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Rapinoe claims that those like Freedom, who believe biological men shouldn't be participating in women's sports, are "bad-faith actors." And it's reached a worse point, in her eyes, that someone like Freedom has now shown up to an event.
"This is not the same old story of, 'Well, this is just online, or it's just trolls, it's just bots. It's not actually happening.' No, it's actually happening. They're doing rallies before the game, they're coming onto the court. They're buying tickets. They're in there - they're not just trolls. They're showing up in real life.
"They want a mechanism to continue tearing down women period and women's sports. I hate that this is true and I desperately want for us to get to a place where women athletes can just be left alone and be great and be paid well. People can come and watch and just be respected. But that is clearly not where we are. The rise in women's sports and the rise of the popularity in all these sports leagues, particularly the W, has come hand-in-hand with the rise of this hate and discrimination. It's why it's important for us as women athletes to continue to speak out about these issues and continue to do it together to show a united and collective fight."
Finally, Rapinoe ended her rant with this interesting line.
"Let's make one thing clear: we do not need men in the WNBA, or women's sports in general, to make it successful."
Quite ironic considering that is exactly what many are preaching themselves - making sure biological men stay out of women's sports as they continue their rise in popularity.
Freedom has maintained he's pro-women and not anti-trans.
"I am not anti-trans, I'm not anti-LGBTQ, I'm just pro-woman," Freedom previously told OutKick . "In this country we have First Amendment, freedom of speech, right? And I simply went to the game with my shirt on."
