Indiana Fever reserve guard Sophie Cunningham unknowingly sparked a controversy this week when she made sharp comments about trans girls competing in sports with other girls.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham, who is averaging 9.3 points this season, 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 then said that her political views are “very much in the middle.”
“I’m very much in the middle. I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides. And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume.”
When Cunnningham was broached about teh backlash to her initial commetns, she was unapologetic. Now, she’s found someone who agrees with her in EPSN’s Stephen A. Smith.
“What if an NBA player decided to transition to playing in the WNBA? How elite would they be? How great would they be?” Smith asked on Thursday’s episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show.
“What if an NBA player decided to transition to playing in the WNBA? How elite would they be? How great would they be? We gotta put stuff in its proper perspective and call it like it is” – Stephen A. Smith on SiriusXM pic.twitter.com/dzxAFCZe9X
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 23, 2026
“We got to put stuff in its proper perspective and call it like it is. Me personally, I am all for— I am a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I believe in supporting people’s civil rights and civil liberties come hell or high water, to the end.
“But you also got to look out for everybody else. You can’t look out for a trans athlete at the expense of biological women. What do they do? Just like there’s a sport for men, there should be a sport for women. Get a sport for trans athletes. Or a league, rather.
“You want to swim? Compete against other trans athletes. You want to box? Compete against other trans athletes. You want to play basketball or football? Compete against other trans athletes.”
Smith went on to say that “every truth ain’t meant to be told.”
“You can’t have a society where we’re ignoring the clear unfairness of a male transitioning to female and competing against women in their sports,” he said. “It is clearly unfair to women. Sophie Cunningham is a thousand percent right.”
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.