It appears the WNBA’s current migraine may only get worse.
Indiana Fever sharpshooter Sophie Cunningham sparked a firestorm of controversy when she recently spoke to ESPN and explained that she opposed self-proclaimed transgender athletes intruding on women’s sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham told ESPN. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest.
“And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Cunningham would only double down on “common sense” when she began getting pressed by the media to either defend or revise her remarks.
“I said what I said,” Cunningham told the media. “I think it’s kind of common sense.”
Many supporters of girls’ sports appreciated a prominent female professional athlete sticking up for much younger female athletes who don’t have the same platform.
That led to a pro-Cunningham rally in Seattle — leading the progressive co-owner of the Seattle Storm to chew out young fans who had shown up to support Cunningham.
(There were also some anti-Cunningham counter-protests.)
Well, that behavior forced the WNBA to suspend minority co-owner Celeste Keaton for five home games and fine her an undisclosed amount — an ugly incident for any sports league, let alone one that’s still trying to find consistent footing in North American sports culture.
Taken in totality, this is an ordeal from which the WNBA would like to move on swiftly, but doing so may not be so easy.
According to Fox News’ OutKick, two more rallies have been planned in support of Cunningham, and both are unabashedly pro-girls’ sports.
The first rally is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Portland, Oregon, ahead of the Fever’s game with the Portland Fire.
There will then be another rally on Sunday, ahead of a matinee game with the Minnesota Lynx, and will be held in Minneapolis.
Interestingly enough, both of those rallies are being planned in two of the more progressive cities in America, Portland and Minneapolis.
And if there’s any question of how Cunningham feels about this conversation — and Keaton — the Fever guard made things perfectly clear on social media:
I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.
Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from… https://t.co/gIVWhEHi3Q
— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) July 30, 2026
“I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY,” Cunningham posted Thursday. “Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.”
“Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon.”
She added: “Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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