Natasha Cloud said her activism may have helped leave her on the free-agent market for weeks this offseason before the Chicago Sky signed her just before the 2026 season. The 11-year veteran said she was left with little explanation as to why her market dried up.
Cloud, speaking on Sue Bird’s Bird’s Eye View podcast, said she still cannot say for sure why the New York Liberty moved on or why other suitors never stepped in. But she said the timing of her free agency, the silence around it and the end of her contract with an agency all came together in a way that made her question whether her off-court work carried a cost.
“I was terrified,” Cloud said, describing a stretch in which she wondered whether organizing, fundraising and campaigning around hot-button issues were getting in the way of her career. She said reports that she changed agencies multiple times during free agency were accurate, and that her original contract was terminated because she hired an outside marketing agency. The veteran guard said the agency had been strong on basketball matters, handling her on-court deals, but she was told she was not marketable off the court and that her activism was to blame for some sponsorships not coming through.
That left Cloud, a 2019 WNBA champion known to fans for her advocacy for the players’ union and her willingness to speak on social and political issues, trying to piece together what happened while the market stayed quiet. She said the termination came two days before the WNBA expansion draft, a jolt that made the situation feel even more abrupt. In the spring, Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb said the team had other priorities, while also endorsing Cloud as worthy of a WNBA roster spot.
Cloud said she still feels she was not given enough transparency from the Liberty or from other teams that passed. Social media commentators and content creators had already been alleging she was being black-balled, but Cloud stopped short of saying she knew that was the reason her options vanished. Her own view remains narrower and more personal: “I couldn’t tell you why I was in this situation. I couldn’t tell you, still, an answer. I didn’t get one,” she said.
What is clear is the ending to the wait. Just before the season began, the Chicago Sky gave Cloud a new home for the 2026 season. What remains open is the wider question her case raises about how much a player’s activism can shape the market for an 11-year veteran who has already proven she can help championship teams win.
