Late Sunday night, the r/WNBA subreddit unexpectedly blew up. Was it because the Phoenix Mercury retired Diana Taurasi’s jersey? Maybe because the Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream went into overtime before the Fever escaped with a win? What about Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne, or Chamique Holdsclaw’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame?
None of the above.
Some users were outraged over a perceived ban on posts about Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
“Why do you ban people from posting about Sophie Cunningham who’s a WNBA player?” a user named Adventurous_Hope_101 wrote.
The mod for r/WNBA responded, “We filter content based on Sophi[e] because it tends to bring out trolls and people that aren’t fans of the W.”
You’re not allowed to mention Sophie Cunningham on the WNBA subreddit 💀
h/t @ginamilan_ pic.twitter.com/314meF1ElH
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) August 17, 2026
Adventurous_Hope_101 didn’t like that explanation, writing, “But she’s a WNBA player that does have actual fans. If you can’t post about a player you’re a fan of, that seems ridiculous.”
Again, the mod clarified, “We have chosen to filter content. If you want to post freely about Sophie, you can go to a different sub.”
Come Monday morning, the r/WNBA subreddit had been inundated with angry Sophie Cunningham fans, so they posted an official statement, as seen below.
“Clarification Regarding Sophie Cunningham Content
“NEW UPDATE
“Sophie Cunningham content is not banned from r/wnba.
“Posts about Sophie are welcome when they are related to basketball, including games, highlights, interviews, statistics, marketing endorsements, and other WNBA-related news. Off-court Sophie content can be shared as well.
“We have upped the community karma to post up to 50 community karma. In other words, if a user tries to create a post and has less than 50 community karma in this sub, the post will be automatically removed. This is in place so the subreddit will not be over-ran with trolls or brigaded. And this goes for ANY new post, you must have 50 community karma to create ANY post.
“Some threads may also have higher Crowd Control settings because of increased activity or repeated rule violations. In these threads, contributions from new users, users with low karma, users who have not previously participated positively in the community, or accounts identified as known spammers may be automatically filtered or removed. These filters are reddits filters, not our filters, we are just activating them. And again, this is so the subreddit is not over-ran with trolls or brigaded.
“And remember, negative community karma is against the rules of this sub and will get you banned.
“These moderation tools are applied to protect the community and are not being used to ban Sophie Cunningham content. Thank you for helping us keep r/wnba focused, respectful, and enjoyable for basketball fans.
“We have had to ban a lot of people for negative community karma, and bans will continue for those who break the rules of the sub.”
Cunningham became a lightning rod when ESPN’s Hallie Grossman published this profile on July 21. In it, Cunningham expressed a desire to ban transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” Cunningham said. “And I’m like, ‘I never once said that.’ 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.”
Since then, organizations against transgender women in sports rallied around Cunningham — quite literally — and the likes of Fox News leveraged it into an absurd number of segments. On Aug. 5, Cunningham spoke with local reporters and stated, “I want to get back to basketball.”
Cunningham is averaging 8.7 points on a career-high 47.9% shooting (44.5% from 3), 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists for the 23-12 Fever. Indiana will next visit the Toronto Tempo on Tuesday night.
About Megan Armstrong
Since first getting published as a student by the Kansas City Star in 2013, Megan Armstrong has gone wherever curiosity and stories have taken her, specializing in sports, media, music, and culture coverage. She also has an extensive background in interviewing and profiling public figures. Her work has appeared in Billboard, Boardroom, Bleacher Report, Esquire, GQ, GRAMMY.com, NYLON, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, The Hollywood Reporter, UPROXX, and elsewhere.