RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Fox News — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesThe WNBA media had every opportunity to show it could cover the league like a serious professional sport over All-Star Weekend in Chicago.
It blew it.
Reporters had access to the league’s biggest players and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert just days after Sophie Cunningham said biological males should not compete in girls' and women's sports. Yet not one public answer emerged from the weekend about whether the league’s stars agreed with her.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SPEAKS OUT TO PROTECT GIRLS AS WNBA ALL-STAR INITIATIVE BACKS ‘GENDER-EXPANSIVE’ GROUP
The outcome was, sadly, predictable.
Before the event, I wrote on X:
It did not.
One important disclosure: OutKick and Fox News Digital attempted to cover All-Star Weekend in person, and I planned to ask the players and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert about Cunningham’s comments (if given the chance). We applied for a credential through the NBA/WNBA credential portal, but the league denied the request because it was submitted 10 days after its June 16 deadline.
The portal was still open and accepted the application, which was submitted four weeks prior to the event.
I had not received the WNBA’s original credential advisory or either of the two reminder emails the league said it sent. We asked the league to reconsider, noting that OutKick and Fox News Digital were approved to cover last year's All-Star Game, but the WNBA stood by its decision.
So, no, OutKick did not ask the players in Chicago because we didn't have access to do so.
That left the job to the reporters who received credentials.
After reviewing the publicly available press conferences, interview videos, transcripts and coverage from All-Star Weekend, I could not find one instance of a WNBA All-Star or Commissioner Cathy Engelbert being asked about Cunningham’s statement.
Cunningham’s comments came in an ESPN profile published just before the All-Star break.
"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’" Cunningham said. "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."
Reporters grilled Cunningham just before the break. She did not retreat.
"I said what I said. I think it’s kinda common sense," Cunningham said.
The story quickly moved beyond Cunningham.
Las Vegas Aces forward Brianna Turner publicly defended transgender participation in women’s sports. The White House backed Cunningham . The Associated Press identified the transgender-athlete debate as one of the major cultural issues hanging over All-Star Weekend.
In other words, this wasn't an obscure social media controversy that reporters could credibly claim they hadn't seen.
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SEES SUPPORT SURGE AFTER STAR PUTS CAREER ON LINE FOR GIRLS SPORTS
An active WNBA player had taken a clear position on one of the biggest debates in women’s sports. Her comments drew a response from another player and reached the White House. The league’s most prominent athletes were about to gather in the same city for several days of media availability.
The questions practically wrote themselves.
Do you agree with Cunningham?
Should women’s sports be reserved for biological females?
Do Cunningham’s comments conflict with the values of the WNBA?
Apparently, that was too much to ask.
The WNBA assembled 22 All-Stars in Chicago, including Caitlin Clark , A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Paige Bueckers and Cunningham’s Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. Players participated in practice interviews, informal scrums and official press conferences throughout the weekend.
There is always a chance that a reporter asked someone about Cunningham during a scrum that was not recorded or published. It is impossible to prove that the topic never came up once over the weekend.
But journalism is not a private conversation between a reporter and an athlete. The point is to provide information to the public.
No outlet appears to have produced an answer from an All-Star. No videos surfaced, no quote appeared in a story and no reporter posted a player’s response on social media.
If someone asked, the answer apparently was not important enough to publish. The practical result is the same.
The public still has no idea what the WNBA’s most prominent players think about trans-identifying biological males competing in women's sports and using women's locker rooms.
The irony is that All-Star Weekend included the inaugural WNBA Media & Innovation Summit. The event’s stated theme was "From Participation to Power," and organizers promoted it as a discussion about who will shape the future of women’s sports.
Evidently, asking female athletes whether women’s sports should be reserved for females didn't fit the program.
The failure to question Engelbert was particularly glaring.
The commissioner began her All-Star press conference by addressing racism, misogyny, homophobia, harassment and threats against players. She said the league is built on "inclusion and respect" and pledged to make every player feel safe and supported.
That provided a natural opening to ask about Cunningham.
Does the commissioner believe Cunningham’s comments are consistent with the WNBA’s values?
What is the league’s position on transgender eligibility?
Does Engelbert believe supporting a female-only athletic category is exclusionary?
No one asked.
Instead, reporters questioned Engelbert about the new replay center, international games, the Las Vegas Aces investigation, the relationship between the league and its players, officiating, security, her future as commissioner, coaching diversity, HBCU internships and her communication style.
Several were legitimate questions. The problem is not that reporters asked about officiating or league operations. The problem is that the full press conference ended without anyone ...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.