WNBA star Sophie Cunningham wants to ‘protect young girls’ in trans athlete debate

Professional basketball player Sophie Cunningham has weighed in on the growing ‘debate’ around trans athletes participating in women’s sports.

In a series of recent comments, Cunningham seemingly doubled down on her view and declared she wants to “protect women’s sports”. The topic has been the centre of debate with President Donald Trump’s continued effort to block trans women and girls from female sports teams.

In a recent wide-ranging interview with ESPN, Cunningham shared that she feels qualified to speak on the topic of trans athletes as she’s a professional in the world of sports. The 29-year-old plays in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a guard for the team Indiana Fever, nicknamed “MAGA Barbie”.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she told the outlet.

“I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. 

“I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

The next day, speaking to reporters ahead of a game against Connecticut Sun, Cunningham addressed her ESPN comments. 

“I think it’s kind of common sense. I think I’ll always believe in that.” She also remarked: “I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I’ll stand on what I said, and I’ll always believe that.”

‘I’ll never falter in my beliefs’

Despite her comments, she said that “there is room for absolutely everyone here”, adding: “I think there is room to love everyone.”

“I truly think when you get people in the same room and you have conversations, you actually have a lot in common with a lot of people. And so I’m there to love.

“But I’m also there to love biological women, and I think that there are rights that need to be protected. I’m gonna stand true to that. I’ll never falter in my beliefs in that. But I have never once said that I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there’s space for everyone.”

A day after the match, Cunningham seemingly stood by her comments. She posted a series of images of herself on Instagram with the caption: “I said what I said.”

Cunningham’s team, the Indiana Fever, issued a statement saying: “Our players are thoughtful adults with their own perspectives and voices, and those views are their own.”

On Wednesday, ex-Fever player and vocal trans ally Brianna Turner seemingly responded to Cunningham’s recent comments and defended trans athletes.

She recently retweeted her posts from 2025, which read: “Trans inclusion is not some big issue in women’s sports as society makes it out to be.

“It’s a political rage bait point meant to target a handful of athletes. And people keep falling for it. The debate is harmful to cis and trans women athletes alike and much of the concern about the safety of women and girls in sports has to do with CIS men not TRANS women.

“So many imaginative stories of things that have literally never happened. ‘What if this and that’ no. There’s actual evidence of the harm cis men have had on women’s sports.”

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