Sophie Cunningham controversy, explained: Timeline of the latest discourse around the WNBA, what Caitlin Clark has said

If one is wondering how it got here, know this: Sophie Cunningham has never been one to back down.

Not as a young girl, not in college at Missouri, and not in the WNBA, where she's made her name as a standout sixth player on Diana Taurasi's Phoenix Mercury teams and now Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever. That approach to life was precisely the point of an ESPN feature released last month, which included a small section in which Cunningham spoke about transgender women in sports.

The comments circulated widely and set ablaze a renewed conversation about transgender inclusion despite there being no active transgender woman playing or coming into the league. Asia Durr and Layshia Clarendon, two former WNBA players, are nonbinary with a birth sex of female. The newly passed 2026 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) stipulates that "only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA."

The NCAA enacted a policy last year that bars transgender women from women's competitions, joining similar policies by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Twenty-seven states also have legislation barring transgender girls and women from women's sports and collegiate sports.

NCAA president Charlie Baker testified in December 2024 that he knows of fewer than 10 transgender college student-athletes total. In an NBC News Stay Tuned Poll in 2025, 75% of respondents said they did not support trans women participating in female sports in a yes/no question. That figure is similar to Gallup polls conducted in 2021 and 2023. The WNBA is a progressive league; per VoteHub , it consists of 67.5% registered Democrats, and notably campaigned for Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, in the 2020 election that flipped the Senate blue.

Cunningham spoke previously on the topic of transgender women in sports at the height of those legislative conversations in 2022 . Her view has not changed over the years, including the ESPN interview that set off the recent wave of conversation. Below is a comprehensive look at how we reached this cultural inflection point.

March 2022: Cunningham references Lia Thomas

In March 2022 , Cunningham retweeted a tweet from then-CBS Sports host Josh Pate that protested Penn swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship in any sport when she took the 500-yard freestyle race at the NCAA women's swimming and diving championships.

"To my teammates, friends, family, supporters and fans, you know that I stand with all people, especially my fellow athletes," Cunningham wrote in an iCloud note shared to Twitter the next day, on March 18, 2022 . "I do not judge, but support all races, religions, sexual preferences and gender equity. We all have a place in this world to compete and I hope we are able to grant everyone that opportunity fairly."

July 21, 2026: ESPN releases wide-ranging Sophie Cunningham feature

An ESPN article, " Love her or hate her, Sophie Cunningham won't be ignored, " addressed the conjecture online that Cunningham is a "MAGA" Republican. Cunningham, a native of Columbia, Missouri , addressed it and spoke on previous comments made about transgender athletes.

The paragraphs from ESPN, in full:

You say she's a "MAGA Barbie," as some corners of the internet have taken to calling her? Projection, she says, because of what she looks like and where she's from. She'll weigh in on how to "protect women's sports," she says, because she's in that world and feels qualified to speak to that world. "I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that,'" she says. "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."

But she also insists that none of this is some Rosetta Stone to unlocking the true nature of her political worldview.

"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."

July 23: Cunningham elaborates on her comments

A few days later, Indiana Fever beat reporters asked Cunningham to "expand on" those comments ahead of their final game before All-Star weekend.

"I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense. 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. And so, I stand on what I said and I'll always believe that."

She was asked whether this was an issue for which she'd outwardly advocate.

"I don't know. I didn't, I'm not a very political person, but I do have beliefs, I have morals and I'll always stand on them [and] be true to who I am. I think people are going to take it how they want to take it, but I never really ever said anything about that. And so, when it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that. I think that's why you have Title IX. That's why you have some of the greats on women's sports. If Title IX and women's sports weren't protected, then you wouldn't hear about any type of women in sport. So I think in the future, it's just really important to protect."

She was also asked about the view that her comments were targets on transgender individuals.

"Like I said, I extend love. I don't dislike anyone. I think there is room for absolutely everyone here. And I think there is room to love...

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