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Another day, another WNBA story devoid of actual basketball.
Last week, Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham expressed her opinion about transgender athletes, and the ripple effect has reached the Seattle Storm ownership group.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” Cunningham said as part of an ESPN profile published July 21. “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.”
That, among many things, led anti-trans groups to organize a “Support Sophie Cunningham” rally for the Fever’s game against the Seattle Storm in Seattle on Tuesday, July 28.
During the game, two teenage girls sat courtside and held pro-Cunningham signs, including one that read “THANK YOU SOPHIE FOR SPEAKING UP FOR GIRLS.” The girls spoke with podcast host Brandi Kruse after the game, and they alleged that Celeste Keaton, a co-owner of the Storm, and called them “f*cking insane.”
Keaton has since been fined and suspended from the Storm’s next five home games, as reported by The Athletic.
“Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect,” Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder said, per The Athletic.
“I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY,” Cunningham posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men. Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.
“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. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”
Cunningham could have said all of that, save for the last two sentences, after the Fever beat the Storm. But the Fever declined to make Cunningham (or Caitlin Clark) available postgame.
Fever head coach Stephanie White couldn’t even respond when Roberta E. Rodrigues asked about it. Fever PR jumped in with a prepared, empty-calorie statement.
“Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,” the statement read. “Our only goal as a team, whether at home or away, is to win basketball games and make Fever fans for life, and we are united in that mission.”
Cunningham can speak for herself and has no issue with expressing strong opinions publicly. This ordeal underscores the pervasive double standard in the WNBA.
“Just a couple weeks ago, Sophie Cunningham was asked about the negative attention the W receives and she essentially said, that’s part of the job and she realizes she’s an entertainer. Cool,” Jemele Hill posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“She’s building an entire brand on being outspoken and yet when the smoke came, she ducked it. The Fever betrayed their other players and Stephanie White by putting them in a position to answer to something they didn’t say.”
Hill concluded, “If Sophie Cunningham is going to build a brand behind being outspoken, she and the Fever are going to have to take the sh*t that comes with it. Don’t be in it for the jersey sales and then when people start asking questions, you want to run. It doesn’t work that way.”
It has never worked that way in the WNBA, specifically. If Cunningham and the Fever organization want to benefit from the increasingly fruitful WNBA ecosystem, then they should be held to the same standard as everyone else.
The post Sophie Cunningham addresses rally controversy, calls out Seattle Storm owner appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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