The Indiana Fever defeated the Portland Fire 112-98 on Friday night behind All-Star point guard Caitlin Clark’s fourth career triple-double. However, the discourse leading up to and following the game largely focused on reserve Fever guard Sophie Cunningham’s comments on transgender athletes in sports rather than on the surging Fever, who have won five games in a row.
“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’s comments have resulted in rallies in support of her being held outside the arena of the last two Fever games, including Friday night’s, and head coach Stephanie White touched on things before the game.
“I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer,” White said, deviating from Cunningham’s stance. “I just don’t. I do think, you know, when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport and things that go into that, like I said, I’m not— I’m not educated enough at the different levels. I know growing up I played with the boys all the time. There weren’t girl sports.
Fever coach Stephanie White is asked her stance on males playing in women’s sports.
“I wouldn’t really say that I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint. I don’t ever believe that exclusion is the answer.”
She then opens up on “frustration” over the debate being tied… pic.twitter.com/6hOLPSBYBf
— Jackson Thompson (@JackThompsonFOX) August 1, 2026
“I’m not educated enough in terms of transgender and transitioning to give you to give you a smart answer. I would say, though, that I just don’t feel like exclusion is an answer. And I think that we need to have deeper, more layered conversations,” she continued.
“Pretty pathetic”
Some of Cunningham’s staunchest supporters were less than thrilled with White’s answer.
“Another one of those women who can’t define what a woman is. Pure trash,” one fan posted on X.
“Pretty pathetic to see a woman too scared to speak the truth. Before the Trans Mafia started extorting groups no one needed a science degree to state the obvious,” another fan added.
“If she’s not educated enough to know (there are) two genders only and she coaches a team with one of those genders and that’s why it has a W in front of NBA, she really missed a lot of important info,” someone else wrote.
White isn’t alone.
Portland Fire coach Alex Sarama also spoke about his embrace of inclusivity.
“I’m completely supportive of people from all communities, all walks of life,” he said. “So that’s my stance completely. You know, I’m supportive of everyone in the Portland, you know, the community.
Regardless of how certain people may feel, it’s clear that a large portion of the WNBA wants inclusion for people from all walks of life.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.