Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham got quite the unexpected birthday present on Sunday. The online backlash in the wake of comments she made about her feelings on transgender athletes being allowed to compete in women’s sports keeps mounting. Cunningham has been called out by several fans and sports pundits with differing opinions, and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve publicly threw shade at Cunningham when she wore a “Trans Kids belong” shirt during a recent game against the Fever.
Cunningham’s comments sparked a social media firestorm, and though there’s been no formal action taken against her by the WNBA, it appears she’s since been banned from the WNBA subreddit, which is run independent of and has zero affiliation with the league. The r/WNBA forum now prohibits users from using several words related to the Fever star including “Cunningham,” “Sophie,” “SC,” “Scunningham,” “Soph,” or “Sophiacunningham,” according to the New York Post. Reddit user Adevnturous_Hope_101 shared their private DM with the r/WNBA moderator, in which they explain why Cunningham’s name has been banned from the forum.
If you want to post freely about Sophie you can go to a different sub.” When the user pushed back on the ban, asking why the WNBA subreddit would prohibit fans from talking about a specific WNBA player, the moderator threatened to ban them too. If you keep messaging about this you will be banned,” they replied. It seems that Cunningham’s comments will prompt some sort of response from the league at some point.
WNBA team presidents recently held a meeting to discuss the league’s transgender eligibility policy after two male former NBA players declared for the 2027 WNBA draft.
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