RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Jul 31, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts to game play against the Portland Fire during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images
Over the past several weeks, Sophie Cunningham has emerged as one of the most high-profile players in the WNBA after she chose to speak out against transgender women competing in women’s sports. The unfortunate reality, however, is that her actual production on the court does not match her fame, and that was quite evident on Thursday night.
Despite Cunningham’s recent surge in popularity, she is just a role player who comes off the bench for the Indiana Fever, and she had her worst game of the season on Thursday night, leading to some strong criticism on social media.
Cunningham makes headlines
Last month, Cunningham made headlines across the country and the world when she was quoted as speaking out against transgender athletes in an ESPN article.
In an interview for the ESPN profile, Cunningham was asked about her political beliefs, including the “MAGA Barbie” nickname that she has been given recently. In response, the Indiana Fever guard shared her opinion on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she told ESPN . “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.”
While the comments were from an interview done back in February, Cunningham doubled down on that stance, describing her opinion as “common sense.”
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said last month . “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”
Since then, the debate has engulfed the country, drawing protests from both sides outside WNBA arenas, sparking comments from politicians throughout the nation, and even led two NBA players to mock the WNBA’s gender policy by declaring themselves eligible for the WNBA Draft.
Cunningham has a bad game
After her comments speaking out against trans women in women’s sports, Cunningham has developed a rather sizable following of fans, many of whom were in attendance for Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Wings. Unfortunately, Cunningham did not perform all that well at all.
In 15 minutes of action off the bench on Thursday night, Cunningham scored zero points, missing all four of her shot attempts. She also had zero rebounds and zero assists, zero blocks, and zero steals. The only stat that Cunningham accumulated during her 15 minutes on the court was actually a negative one, as she was whistled for one foul.
Cunningham is a role player who comes off the bench, so she does not usually put up big numbers in any statistical category. However, this was a brutal game by even those standards. This was the first time since 2021 that Cunningham finished without a single point, rebound, or assist in a game. It was the first time in her entire career that she had no stats in any of those categories while playing 15 or more minutes.
Criticism mounts
Needless to say, this performance led to a lot of criticism from fans.
“ Yo is that Sophie Cunningham statline real?” one fan asked .
“WNBA superstar Sophie Cunningham just put up a Tony Snell impression in a marquee matchup. What will she do next?” a prominent Boston Celtics fan account wrote in a post .
“ Sophie Cunningham doesn’t have 1 point, 1 assist or 1 rebound and she was on the court for 14 mins,” another fan added .
“ it’s no way sophie cunningham is on a wnba roster in 2027 ngl this is horrific stuff,” someone else wrote .
“ Sophie Cunningham just taking up space on that team….” another fan wrote.
“ What exactly does Sophie Cunningham do?! They need to replace her with another player that can give them more production!” someone else added .
“ Sophie Cunningham scored 0 points in 15 minutes for the Fever tonight. Thought I’d share these stats, since she wants us to talk about basketball now,” another fan added .
We’ll have to see whether or not Cunningham will be able to bounce back from this performance.
The post ‘Horrific stuff’: Criticism mounts for Sophie Cunningham after historically bad performance appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions .
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