Sophie Cunningham rarely faces a double-team on the court during the WNBA season, but the Indiana Fever guard faced a 2-on-1 of viral criticisms last week.
WNBA veteran Sydney Colson, Cunningham’s former Indiana Fever teammate, told Cunningham to “shut the f**k up” in relation to her previous comments on trans athletes participating in women’s sports.
On top of that, in a column that also went viral, “The Athletic” writer Candace Buckner wrote that the Fever should not re-sign Cunningham ahead of superstar Caitlin Clark’s fourth WNBA season.
Cunningham responded to Buckner’s thoughts during the most recent episode of her podcast: “No Hesitation with Sophie Cunningham & Drew Hanlen.”
“I literally don’t even care what anyone says about me anymore,” Cunningham said. “Because I’ve said this so many times, if you’re going to live by the praise, you’re going to die by the hate. And the majority of these people have never picked up a ball in their entire lives. And they’re just thirsty to, you know, have attention or be relevant in some type of way.”
“No matter what anyone says to me, I’m going to continue to do me,” Cunningham continued. “I know what I bring to the table. It’s not always in the stat sheet. And so for you to like not say I’m effective or any of that, whatever, suck it.”
In a column written by Buckner last week, the writer argued that the Fever should not bring Cunningham back to the roster next season following two seasons with Clark. The article drew intense backlash online from some of Cunningham’s supporters.
“Although she largely spent her career in anonymity in Phoenix before joining the Fever in 2025, Cunningham is now as recognizable as Clark — and in some right-leaning circles, because of her outspokenness, she’s more respected,” Buckner wrote in her column.
“So, Cunningham shouldn’t be muted. She can serve up hot takes on her podcast about (Las Vegas Aces star A’ja) Wilson needing to “grow up” all she wants,” Buckner added. “She just needs to do it on another team. Cunningham might be content gold, but she’s not nearly worth the trouble for a franchise struggling to keep basketball first. When you add in the crowd that Cunningham has attracted this season, it’s as though the Fever have been reduced to performing in the background while the world’s most contentious Thanksgiving dinner drags on.”
Cunningham, who turned 30 in August, will be a free agent this offseason after playing this season on a one-year contract that paid her $665,000. With most of her value as a player considered to be on the defensive end, Cunningham averaged 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 22.2 minutes in 43 games (3 starts) this season.
Cunningham’s celebrity profile grew to a new level in 2026, though, when she spoke out against trans athletes competing in women’s sports during an interview with ESPN that was released in July.
Her comments set off a renewed round of political debates around the country, which included verbal attacks on trans people, forced other WNBA players and coaches to answer questions about the topic, and led to multiple protests at WNBA arenas. Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton even got suspended after she confronted two young girls who were holding up signs to support Cunningham in the front row at a game.
Colson appeared to call out Cunningham for her prior comments on trans athletes during an appearance on her own podcast last week.
“Listen, if you never speak up about a damn thing when it’s impacting the people that you claim to love, care about, you know, ‘we’re fighting together as a team’, ‘sister’, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and you don’t speak up when things affect them,” Colson said, “they don’t respect you, they’re just trying to make it.
“For real, for the white players in the league when you don’t say s**t, and even worse, when you say things that are harmful, you are talking about the trans s**t, nobody respects you.
“Shut the f**k up. Just know people are just trying to get by when they’re dealing with you. And, y’all oughta be ashamed to act like you’re cool with people, to act like you care about sisterhood and all of these things…you’re fake.”
The Fever were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs following a 94-83 loss to the Las Vegas Aces on Oct. 1. Cunningham had a team-worst -18 plus-minus in the defeat; Clark was a -14.
Despite an ending the Fever were disappointed about, and Buckner’s appeal in the column, it looks like Indiana will attempt to keep the Cunningham-Clark duo together.
“She brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience,” Fever general manager Amber Cox said about Cunningham during exit interviews. “She’s serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it, when we really need to lock in.”
While Cunningham made plenty of headlines this season, attention will now turn to the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries as they compete for the WNBA championship.
Golden State hosts Atlanta and Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 17.
