Star women’s basketball player, Sophie Cunningham (Credit: @sophie_cham/Instagram)

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is refusing to back down.

After an ESPN profile in which the 29-year-old star said she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” the radical left predictably lost its mind. Accusations of “hate” and “transphobia” poured in.

Speaking to reporters before Wednesday’s game against the Connecticut Sun, Cunningham made it crystal clear she is not walking anything back.

“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” she declared. “I think I’ll always believe in that. It’s really important to protect children. And that’s little girls, who are also involved in that category. I stand by what I said and I’ll always believe that.”

She added: “I’m not a very political person, but I do have beliefs. I have morals, and I’ll always stand on those.”

Cunningham pointed to Title IX as the reason women’s sports even exist. Without sex-based categories rooted in biological reality, she argued, the entire purpose of women’s athletics collapses.

In the original ESPN interview that triggered the left’s rage, Cunningham rejected the smear that she “hates” transgender people.

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she 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.”

WATCH:

The radical left’s hysterical reaction only proved her point. Instead of engaging with the obvious biological advantages males hold over females in competitive sports, strength, speed, bone density, lung capacity, activists and their media allies immediately reached for the “bigot” label.

This is the same crowd that spent years pretending Lia Thomas was a fair competitor and that female athletes should simply “be kind.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also came to Cunningham’s defense during Thursday’s press briefing.

“Men should not be playing in women’s sports. It’s completely ludicrous that anyone could support that,” Leavitt said. “It’s even more ludicrous that you do have Sophie Cunningham, a female athlete herself, very accomplished in her own right, coming forth and speaking that truth… The backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing. They are clearly very out of touch with the American public on this issue, which again is an 80/20 issue. It’s common sense.”

Cunningham became a favorite among WNBA fans after defending teammate Caitlin Clark during a brutal June 2025 game against the Connecticut Sun. After Clark was poked in the eye, shoved, and knocked to the floor, Cunningham later grabbed Jacy Sheldon and pulled her down during a hard foul.

As The Gateway Pundit reported at the time, Cunningham quickly earned a reputation as Clark’s “enforcer.”

Now she is displaying that same courage off the court.

But Cunningham’s appeal extends far beyond basketball and politics.

She is also an amazing singer.

Via Sherri Unfiltered.

The Special Olympics kids love her.
Via WISH-TV.

The UFC fans love her.

The girls love her.

The late night audience loves her.

Stephen A. Smith supports her.

The post After Backlash From Radical Left — Sophie Cunningham Doubles Down on Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports: “I Said What I Said” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.