Sophie Cunningham was booed by fans in Portland after the Indiana Fever forward sparked controversy in the WNBA by objecting to transgender athletes competing in women's sports.
Some fans at Friday's Fever-Fire game at Moda Center waved small transgender pride flags. Cunningham was audibly jeered when she checked into the game in the first half, and the boos returned whenever she touched the ball, especially at the free-throw line.
Cunningham responded in kind. After making a 3-pointer, she turned to the crowd and formed an 'L' with her hand, appearing to call her critics 'losers.'
The Fever had the last laugh, improving to 19-10 with a 112-98 win over the struggling Fire. Cunningham finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a plus-minus rating of +18, second best on the team behind Caitlin Clark. Clark and Kelsey Mitchell tied for the team high with 26 points each.
Before tip-off, Cunningham said she has not been a distraction for the Fever. "I think at the end of the day, I come in and I do my job," she said. "I think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I'm full of love. I'm bubbly. I love the people around me. I love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn't even cross my mind. Doesn't cross my teammates' minds."
"And again, I'm here to play basketball, but I'm also here to be me, and I'm not gonna like shadow that or hide or, you know, dim my light just because maybe people don't agree with that," she added.
Coach weighs in
Fever coach Stephanie White was also asked about the debate and said she favored inclusion. "I wouldn't say I'm educated enough from a scientific standpoint, but I don't ever believe that exclusion is an answer," White told reporters before the game. "I do think, when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport and things that go into that, as I said, I'm not educated enough at the different levels. I know growing up that I played with the boys all the time. There weren't girls sports back then."
While White spoke inside the arena, Cunningham supporters demonstrated outside. Videos posted on a 'Women Are Real' X account showed the protest did not draw a large crowd. Several people held signs thanking Cunningham for opposing transgender athletes in women's sports, while one man made an 'X' with his arms.
Cunningham told reporters she has no ties to the group. "I have honestly had nothing to do with them," she said. "I think it's people just practicing their rights of freedom of speech and doing what other fans have been doing since the WNBA has started. And so props to them, props to everyone who is able to be competent and be bold and courageous enough to to speak their truths."
Days earlier, the same organizers made national news in Seattle when Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton told two young Cunningham supporters they were "f***ing insane" for demonstrating courtside. The WNBA banned Keaton from her team's next five home games as a result.
Organizer Amy Sousa defended the group in a social media post ahead of two further planned protests, the first of which was Friday's game in Portland. "We're a group of middle aged women and girls with baskets of cookies, balloons, bubbles, and welcome signs," she wrote. "We're literally a cheer squad!" Sousa was later pictured wearing gear from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that opposes transgender athletes in women's sports.
A counter-protest also took place before the game, including a person dressed in a frog costume holding a sign reading "Trans people just want to live," and another counter-protester wearing a t-shirt reading "f*** transphobia."
The controversy began last week after ESPN.com published comments from Cunningham expressing sympathy for trans people while saying they should be banned from women's sports. "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 told ESPN.
Indiana travels to Minnesota on Sunday to face the Lynx, where another demonstration against transgender athletes in women's sports is planned ahead of the 1 p.m. EST tip-off.
