When it comes to her performance on the court, Sophie Cunningham has a message: she is not her numbers.<\/p>\n
The Indiana Fever guard<\/a> defended her controversial image on a recent episode of her podcast No Hesitation, which she hosts alongside basketball coach Drew Hanlen. <\/p>\n At the top of the October 9 episode of the podcast, the co-hosts discussed an article in The Athletic<\/a> published earlier this month that argued that the Indiana Fever should part ways with Cunningham, citing her presence as \u201ctoo combustible,\u201d and claiming that it has overtaken her contribution to the team given that she \u201caverages fewer than 8 points a game.\u201d Cunningham offered a rebuttal on No Hesitation, questioning the validity of taking her (not always impressive<\/a>) stats into account in the first place.<\/p>\n – YouTube www.youtube.com<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cI literally don’t even care what anybody says about me anymore, because I’ve said this so many times \u2014 if yo\u2019’re going to live by the praise, you\u2019re going to die by the hate,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cNo matter what anybody says to me, I\u2019m going to continue to do me. I know what I bring to the table, it\u2019s not always in the stat sheet.\u201d<\/p>\n The WNBA player has become a controversial figure in the league for her outspoken opposition to the inclusion of trans athletes in professional sports. While speaking to ESPN<\/a> for a July profile, Cunningham was asked about her stance on trans athletes and responded with a series of anti-trans dogwhistles.<\/p>\n \u201cI got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I\u2019m like, \u2018I never once said that,\u2019\u201d she told ESPN. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Those comments \u2014 and the subsequent backlash \u2014 appear to have been just the start of Cunningham\u2019s anti-trans advocacy. The athlete has since posed alongside Trump sycophant Riley Gaines<\/a>, who sued the NCAA over its trans policies; she also sported anti-trans merch<\/a> at the University of Missouri\u2019s homecoming football game.<\/p>\n Most recently, Cunningham reaffirmed her stance by praising a group of young cisgender girls on a Washington State high school\u2019s cross-country team<\/a> who protested the presence of a trans athlete. On October 13, a group of athletes walked off the field<\/a> during a meet to protest the presence of a transgender athlete on the team. The high school protest came just as Washington State voters are set to vote on Initiative 638<\/a>, which seeks to ban trans athletes from sports that match their gender identity statewide. <\/p>\n The action garnered national media attention, including from groups that oppose trans athletes. In an Instagram post made on October 14, XX-XY Athletics, an apparel brand that makes clothes featuring anti-trans messaging, posted video of the protest with the caption \u201cRefuse to pretend.\u201d <\/p>\n On Saturday, Cunningham commented on the post. <\/p>\n \u201cGood work girls,\u201d Cunningham wrote in a comment<\/a> under the viral video.<\/p>\n Cunningham\u2019s 2026 season average matches her career average of just under 8 points per game, with her rebounds and assists per game average dipping compared to her average career stats, per the WNBA<\/a>.<\/p>\n Get the best of what\u2019s queer. Sign up for Them\u2019s newsletters<\/a>. <\/p>\n