Sophie Cunningham has apparently become a problem for the moderators at r/WNBA. Their solution: Don't let people use her name.
The subreddit is reportedly filtering posts that contain "Sophie," "Cunningham," "scunningham," "soph," "sophiacunningham" and other variations. So yes, a WNBA forum is blocking people from posting the name of a WNBA player.
Someone on Reddit asked about it.
"We filter content based on Sophi because it tend to bring out trolls and people that aren't fans of the W," a moderator wrote in screenshots of the exchange. The user responded that Cunningham has fans and actually plays in the league. That didn't get him very far.
"We have chosen to filter content. If you want to post freely about Sophie you can go to different sub," the moderator replied.
He kept asking questions and got this: "If you keep messaging about this you will be banned," the moderator wrote.
Nothing subtle about that. They don't want the posts, they don't want the questions about the posts, and apparently they don't much care how ridiculous it looks.
Cunningham's crime? She had the nerve to say out loud what the overwhelming majority of Americans already believe: Biological men should not compete against women. The Indiana Fever guard has been under siege from the trans activist mob ever since, accused of hate for stating basic biology.
"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that,'" Cunningham 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."
The blowback came quickly. Cunningham was called a transphobe, a bigot, and a racist. Reporters later gave her another chance to walk it back.
She didn't.
"I said what I said."
Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White then decided to have some fun with the WNBA's problem. Both former NBA players announced plans to enter the 2027 WNBA Draft.
That joke landed because the league's own agreement is pretty straightforward. Article XIII, Section 1(a) says, "Only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA." The WNBA has nevertheless spent time meeting over the issue without producing a new definition of "woman."
This would already be plenty of nonsense for one story. Cunningham's past week somehow added more.
Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was tossed from the Aug. 8 game against Indiana after a Flagrant 2 foul on Cunningham. Cunningham ended up bloodied. Carrington later said she hadn't intended to hurt her.
Read More: Feckless WNBA Bosses Meet to Define 'Woman'… and Come Up With Exactly Nothing
DiJonai Carrington Denies Intentionally Fouling Sophie Cunningham — Then Threatens Her Again
Then she said, "It might happen again."
Stephanie White didn't exactly charge to her player's defense afterward, either. The Fever coach initially defended Carrington's intent, then later said she hadn't actually seen the play in real time. After watching it, White called the foul "egregious."
For all the league's drama, people keep watching.
The Aug. 8 Fever-Sky game averaged 2.6 million viewers on ABC and peaked at 3.1 million. WNBA games across all networks were averaging 756,000 viewers as of Aug. 5, up 15 percent from last season.
Cunningham is part of the reason people are paying attention. Some fans like her. Some hate her. Plenty want to argue about her.
The r/WNBA moderators apparently looked at all of that and decided the name was the problem.
It fits. A league that spent formal meeting time failing to define the word "woman" has now produced a fan community that won't let you type the name of the player who asked the question. The WNBA can't answer it. Reddit won't allow it. The issue, apparently, is just going to have to resolve itself.
And, for anyone keeping score, her name is still Sophie Cunningham.
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