Sophie Cunningham Wades Into the Trans-Athlete Fight - 'I Want to Protect Young Girls'

Sophie Cunningham during a Phoenix Mercury game. Photo by John Mac / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham put herself in the middle of the sport’s most volatile debate, telling ESPN’s Hallie Grossman in a wide-ranging profile that she supports athletes competing in the gendered sport of their birth rather than the one they choose after transitioning. The remarks, surfaced July 22, 2026 by Yahoo Sports and For The Win, immediately reignited the argument over trans participation in women’s basketball. Cunningham, described as one of the league’s most polarizing and recognized players, insisted her position was rooted in care rather than contempt.

‘Extend love,’ but ‘protect young girls’

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” Cunningham said in the profile. “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.” She framed herself as politically unplaceable, adding, “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.”

The ‘MAGA Barbie’ backdrop

Cunningham’s every word arrives filtered through a viral persona. Yahoo Sports noted that a “MAGA Barbie” nickname had gone viral, tied to what she called assumptions about “what she looks like and where she’s from,” and that she recently downplayed the White House using her viral pointing meme in a social media post. Her stance also lands in a charged legal moment, with Yahoo Sports reporting that Indiana’s transgender athlete ban for scholastic and collegiate competition was upheld by the Supreme Court in late June, and that the NCAA maintains a ban in women’s athletics.

A former teammate on the other side

The pushback did not come only from anonymous critics. Las Vegas Aces forward Brianna Turner, Cunningham’s former Phoenix Mercury and Fever teammate, had written a USA TODAY op-ed earlier this year arguing that the fixation is misplaced. “Focusing on who should be allowed to call themselves a woman distracts from the structural inequities that actually limit women’s opportunities,” Turner wrote, per Yahoo Sports. The league’s own recently adopted collective bargaining agreement states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” language that does not explicitly exclude trans women.

Where it stands

As of publication, the Indiana Fever organization had not commented on Cunningham’s remarks, according to Yahoo Sports. Her comments also arrived as the franchise has grown increasingly politicized over the perceived treatment of teammate Caitlin Clark, a subject the organization has tried to keep at arm’s length. Cunningham, for her part, offered no retreat, standing by a position she cast as love and honesty at once.

References: Sophie Cunningham sparks controversy with transgender-athlete comments | Sophie Cunningham, the finger point and the Indiana Fever