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Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve defended the right of "Save Women’s Sports" demonstrators to gather outside Sunday’s game against the Indiana Fever, even as she rejected their argument. Reeve said that the scenario of "biological men" in girls' locker rooms is "not the case." "It is not the case that we have 'biological men' in girls' locker rooms. The way it's being phrased, the innuendo there that transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room. There's a lot of narrative that is problematic that we need to address," she said. Fever star Sophie Cunningham recently said...

Trans activists confront Sophie Cunningham supporters outside the Indiana Fever's game in Minnesota as Cunningham's stance on protecting women's sports becomes a major flash point across the WNBA.

Fire fans didn’t offer a warm welcome to Sophie Cunningham. The Indiana star was booed by fans during the Fever’s 112-98 win over the Fire at the Moda Center on Friday night in Portland as fallout over her comments regarding trans athletes continues. Cunningham scored 13 points off the bench while Caitlin Clark scored a team-high 26 points. Earlier this month, Cunningham made waves for saying she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men” in an ESPN profile. The discourse around the quote was amped...

A former Bakersfield college basketball coach is headed to prison after admitting to possessing child sex abuse material while running a prostitution operation that spanned three states. Kevin Mays, a former assistant coach at Cal State University Bakersfield and one-time player for the program, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office said. Earlier this month, Mays pleaded no contest to felony charges of possession of child or youth pornography, pimping and possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm. The plea...

Sophie Cunningham's outspoken defense of women's sports has sparked a series of angry protests that show no sign of slowing down. The Indiana Fever star's recent comments about 'protecting young girls' from transgender athletes in sports has created huge controversy on both sides of the arguments, leading to a series of anti-trans rallies outside WNBA arenas. The Daily Mail can reveal that two further protests are being planned in the coming days, starting on Friday night outside the Portland Fire's Moda Center, where the Fever are due to play at 10pm EST. On Sunday, Indiana travels to Minnesota to face...

Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton has been fined and suspended from attending the team's next five home games, the WNBA confirmed to Fox News Digital. The suspension and fine come after Keaton allegedly called a pair of teenage Sophie Cunningham fans "f---ing insane" during a game on Tuesday, independent Seattle-based journalist Brandi Kruse told Fox News Digital. Kruse was in the arena and accompanied the girls, who were there to watch Cunningham and the Indiana Fever take on the Storm. Cunningham addressed the incident involving Keaton in an X repost of Fox News Digital's report late Wednesday night.

Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson wore a shirt that said “Trans rights are human rights” before Tuesday’s 105-95 loss to the Fever, which seemed to be a direct response to Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham’s recent comments about transgender athletes. Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN article published last week — and days later, she doubled down ahead of the Fever’s win over the Connecticut Sun. After the game, a reporter asked Fever head coach Stephanie White about the anti-trans rally and Cunningham’s recent comments. A Fever spokesperson immediately stepped in and...

Sophie Cunningham appears to be of MAGA mindset. The WNBA star, who created a firestorm over her comments about transgender athletes, has also shared videos promoting anti-immigration and other right-wing sentiments. First reported by MeidasTouch, the Indiana Fever guard reposted a video on TikTok, where she has 3.2 million followers, captioned: “the illegal immigrant conversation confuses me so much.” The re-posted creator, who also included the hashtags “MAGA” and “conservatives,” blasted undocumented people for not “following rules” and argued that those who enter the United States illegally do not deserve sympathy. “You shouldn’t have ----ing came here to begin with,”...

From its founding in 1996 until today, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) has been known as a “progressive” league. The WNBA has decried “police brutality,” “racism in all its forms,” and the “systematic oppression of Black Lives in America.” The WNBA has also been at the “forefront” of “initiatives” to “support” a variety of left-wing issues such as “gun control,” “#MeToo,” and “#BlackLivesMatter,” among others. With such a history, it is not surprising that the WNBA refused to allow players at their All-Star game to wear “USA 250” patches on their uniforms. According to Warner Todd Hutson of Breitbart...

President Donald Trump said Friday that he rates former basketball star Michael Jordan over LeBron James, suggesting that the latter was "maybe a racist." The president's comments come after it was reported earlier Friday that the 41-year-old sports star James has signed a two-year $8 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, marking the fourth team in his career. Trump was asked where he stands on LeBron versus Michael Jordan as the best basketball player ever during an unrelated announcement in the Oval Office, to which the president stated that he "only like[s] people who like me." “Michael Jordan’s a guy...

While she is a bona fide star in the WNBA, controversy comes with life as a star for Caitlin Clark. Former U.S. President Barack Obama made sure to let the Indiana Fever star know she was doing a great job and not to "let all this nonsense get you down." The Fever had a difficult start to the season, but have recently picked it up and lead the East with a 17-10 record. Situations both on and off the court have wiggled their way into Clark's life as a star, and she's been forced to deal with more than anticipated....

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the Trump administration's solidarity Thursday with Sophie Cunningham, a Christian WNBA star who's been under fire for opposing men in women's sports.During a press briefing at the White House, Leavitt said she doesn't believe President Donald Trump has yet reached out to Cunningham, but is following the story of the 29-year-old Indiana Fever guard as she has fielded left-wing attacks and been mocked as "MAGA Barbie" for supporting the integrity of women's sports.Cunningham, an eight-season WNBA veteran who was re-baptized earlier this year to reaffirm her Christian faith as an adult, made headlines...

The WNBA has a historic collective bargaining agreement in hand and is seeing unprecedented growth, but stakeholders in and around the league question whether commissioner Cathy Engelbert is the right person to lead it into the future, according to an ESPN story released Friday. ESPN's Alexa Philippou interviewed more than 20 owners, management executives, players and other industry insiders, conversations that revealed that for as much business growth Engelbert has overseen, she is not the right person to navigate the demands the league faces and what its stakeholders need. "I do think Cathy thinks, well, she's done her job. She...

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham has spoken out about the debate surrounding transgender athletes in sport, insisting she wants to 'protect young girls'. Back in 2022, the Indiana Fever star faced heavy backlash after sharing a post from CBS Sports host Josh Pate regarding the controversy surrounding former Penn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and their inclusion on the women's team. Pate's post read: 'Female collegiate athletes deserve so much better than this'. Cunningham was forced to release a statement over the matter, at the time, saying that she 'stands' with athletes, but calling for 'fair' competition in events. Now, she has...

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was not planning to suspend Alyssa Thomas for burying a fist into Caitlin Clark’s throat three weeks ago until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver implored her to reverse course and issue the discipline, multiple sources told SBJ Tuesday. Engelbert subsequently suspended Thomas for one game and ordered a Flagrant 2 penalty that carried a $1,000 fine. While a WNBA spokesperson said Wednesday it was “absolutely false’’ that Engelbert did not originally plan to suspend Thomas, sources believe the fact Silver needed to persuade Engelbert is another sign she is likely in her final season as commissioner. League...

Robbie Avila has heard the chants. He heard the fans inside of Thomas & Mack Center shouting “We Want Rob-bie!” during the second half of the Lakers’ summer league game on Friday against the Thunder. SNIP Cream Abdul-Jabbar — a nickname popularized by Kentucky Sports radio host Matt Jones in 2024 while Avila, who wears protective goggles like NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was playing at Indiana State before he transferred to Saint Louis for his junior and senior seasons. “It’s one of the most unique nicknames I think I’ve ever seen,” Avila told the Post. But Avila’s personal favorite nickname...

A European professional basketball player was fatally shot and two people wounded when gunfire erupted Friday night at a packed Harlem basketball tournament, cops and witnesses said. Kinu Rochford, a standout at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was struck twice in the head at around 10:30 p.m. at the Kingdome Basketball Tournament in the Martin Luther King Jr. Towers on Lenox Avenue, police said. Rochford, 35, who was playing in the tournament, was shot while watching between games, according to cops. Witnesses said Rochford was struck the second time when he was already on the ground bleeding. Cops have...

It’s no secret that the Lakers were going to get a makeover after the departure of LeBron James, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith seems less than pleased with the makeover’s racial makeup. Within 24 hours of ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reporting the news that James would be playing his next and likely final season elsewhere, the Lakers made a move to acquire Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz. The acquisition gives the Lakers some assurances at the center position. However, the move also gives the Lakers another white player. Who, along with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, makes three...

Being the United States president can be pretty overwhelming. Fortunately for the 44th U.S. President Obama, had basketball to turn to relieve himself of some of the stress. ...Obama played and he played without any reservations. "they didn't adopt any "presidential rules," and he paid for it dearly one time as someone caught him on the mouth and gave him a busted lip. "There ain't no presidential rule?" Stak chimed in. "I got the scars to prove it," Obama bragged. The affable U.S. president said hoops was as much a part of his schedule as meeting diplomats from other countries....

As they prepare to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, two-time WNBA MVPs Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne and four-time championship-winning coach Cheryl Reeve spoke Friday about what progress has been made in the league's officiating and style of play -- and what needs to improve. Speaking one day after the WNBA suspended Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas for her hit on the Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, Parker, Delle Donne and Reeve agreed that the league needs to do a better job of protecting its players and cracking down on excessive contact. Parker and...