Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has made headlines over the past several days as a result of her high-profile stance on transgender athletes. Now, she is receiving some pushback from a high-profile woman in sports media.
This week, SiriusXM’s Katie Nolan had some strong words for Cunningham as she claimed that the WNBA lacks “critical-thinking skills” for failing to identify the larger context of her comments.
Cunningham Has Spoken Out
During a recent interview for an ESPN profile, Cunningham was asked about her political beliefs – specifically, the “MAGA Barbie” nickname that has followed her in recent months. In her response, the Fever star spoke out against trans athletes.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she 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.”
A few days later, Cunningham doubled down on her controversial stance.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said earlier this week. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”
Cunningham addressed the issue for a third time in a post on X while responding to a recent incident involving two teenage girls who alleged they were verbally confronted by a Seattle Storm co-owner, who has since been suspended.
“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,” Cunningham wrote in a post on X. “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe. You’ll be hearing from me soon yay for gifts. Truly embarrassing of the co-owner.”
Cunningham was not made available to the media following the team’s win over the Seattle Storm this week, but before Friday night’s game against the Portland Fire, Cunningham made it clear that she has no intention of running or hiding from the criticism she has been receiving.
‘You don’t really have critical thinking skills’
Following Cunningham’s comments, Nolan offered a scathing criticism of Cunningham’s words and actions on her Casuals podcast this week. In comments addressed to Cunningham directly, Nolan blasted Cunningham for her intentions and motivations as she dissected the political landscape as a whole.
“One side politically is incredibly invested in this issue, and that’s because one side politically doesn’t have a lot of other issues that they’ve got pretty big approval on,” Nolan said.
“And now I am of the belief that the reason they have big approval on this is because people keep saying sentences like, ‘I don’t want little girls to have to go against biological men.’ Because on its face that sounds like something is common sense. That’s not what anybody’s asking for. Nobody is saying we should get rid of, for example, the WNBA and the NBA, and everybody should just compete together. Nobody’s saying that. And so the people that are packaging it as that are doing so on purpose. And when you are consuming it and going, ‘How could anyone disagree with this statement?’ You never consider that it’s because the statement itself does not reflect the actual issue that we’re discussing.”
Nolan went as far as to say that Cunningham wasn’t applying basic “critical-thinking skills” to the issue and is being manipulated by those invested in pedaling this issue to people.
“All you’re telling us, Sophie, is that you don’t really have critical-thinking skills, or that you aren’t interested in employing them,” Nolan said. “You’re taking the message that’s being given to you by people who are highly invested in this dividing stuff, and you’re helping them sell it by not questioning it at all. Which is extra crazy given the fact that you’re surrounded by people you could talk to about this issue to better understand it.”
Nolan went on to point out that many governing bodies have already banned trans athletes from competing, and the Trump administration has aggressively pursued restrictive policies across all sports, with both the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the NCAA.
“You’ve already ‘won,’ quote-unquote, in that way. And yet you and others seem unwilling to let this go,” Nolan said, again addressing Cunningham. “Or to even learn a little bit more about it, consider what the other side is trying to say. You just keep saying, ‘Well, I’m against men fighting against women, and I think it’s crazy that you’re not.’ What if you considered that that’s not what other people are arguing? What if you considered you’re misunderstanding the issue, and then consider that that’s because that was beneficial to whoever’s [freaking] playing you?”
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.