The WNBA has been in the news quite a bit in recent weeks for mostly self-inflicted drama surrounding the unhinged and bizarre reactions of some coaches, co-owners, players, and fans to Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham defending women's sports from the invasion of biological males who say they "identify" as women.
Cunningham's statement, shared in a mid-July ESPN profile piece, was that "I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men." It should have been something every woman in the league supported and stood behind. But wokeness soon reared its ugly head, with Cunningham and her fans being harassed and yelled at during games, and with the Seattle Storm's co-owner, Celeste Keaton, even joining in.
Making matters worse was Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, who proclaimed that "I think just in terms of how I'm seeing it is, if I can answer, for me sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self." And here we all thought that sports was first and foremost about skill and talent.
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The issue seemingly reached a boiling point when Cunningham was brutally fouled by Chicago Sky forward DiJonai Carrington over the weekend in what my RedState colleague Bob Hoge described as a "mixed martial arts" shot.
For those who missed it, watch:
I mean this is a disgusting flagrant foul. Sophie Cunningham is lucky to have got through this without serious injury. I’m glad she reacted like the Martial Arts woman she is. Also glad Carrington was ejected. Is this random? Away from her recent views? This is very extreme. pic.twitter.com/0u4nQGAP4S
— Jean Hatchet (@JeanHatchet) August 8, 2026
Carrington was ejected from the game and immediately rushed on social media to accuse the Indiana Fever of "white privilege." But while that was predictable, something else that shouldn't have happened played out during the post-game presser, where, as RedState reported, the Fever's coach, Stephanie White, defended... Carrington:
"It was a hard foul. I don’t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did. But it did happen, and I thought it was the right call. But you know, one of the things about Nay is that she’s gonna play her butt off, man. She’s gonna compete. Nobody’s gonna go walking in for a layup. And so, I don’t oppose the hard foul. But I also don’t think that she intentionally went for the neck.”
Video of White's remarks has been widely circulated, and many have commented on the reaction of Fever star player Caitlin Clark, who buried her head as White was speaking:
Head coach of Indiana Fever Stephanie White goes out of her way to defend DiJonai Carrington
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) August 10, 2026
pic.twitter.com/KeMJu0VGtX
I don't blame Clark for (appearing to be) frustrated at the lack of defense for her teammate and the praise for the opposing player who committed the hard foul. It's not the first time:
Fever coach Stephanie White defended Alyssa Thomas after she punched Caitlin Clark in the throat.
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) August 9, 2026
Now she’s defending DiJonai Carrington after she smacked Sophie Cunningham in the head.
🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/UQ8RHQ8xFc
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For a league celebrating its 30th anniversary, it and some of its coaches and players seem hellbent on causing the new fans who have been tuning in to watch games since Clark's arrival in 2024 to turn away from it thanks to woke transgender BS and an inability - or unwillingness - to stand up for players who in the eyes of many are being intentionally targeted for the apparent crime of WrongSpeak (and perhaps the color of their skin).
Some final thoughts:
NBA vets trolling their way into the WNBA are doing more to defend women than the WNBA’s self-proclaimed feminists ever did.
— Jillian Anderson (@Jillie_Alexis) August 10, 2026
And this, from former NBA player Kyle Kuzma, was spot on:
Thirty years of women fighting to get this league built, and the question on the table this week is what a woman is. Needing a committee to find that answer is a disservice to every girl who was told this league was for her.
Indeed.
