A New York Times–owned sports columnist is demanding the Indiana Fever dump Sophie Cunningham for holding the wrong opinions — and the franchise appears ready to ignore her.
Candace Buckner, writing for The Athletic, argued that Cunningham is "too combustible" and her "takes too turbulent" to share a roster with Caitlin Clark. The real offense: Cunningham stood up for biological reality in women's sports, and the institutional press can't forgive her for it.
Buckner's column insists the Fever's season was hijacked by a "bench player with big opinions." She writes: "This was the season when the Fever and even the whole Caitlin Clark experience took a backseat to a bench player with big opinions." Her solution? Ship Cunningham to Chicago, Portland, or Toronto — or suggest she become a "full-time finger-pointer" or "professional UFC ring girl."
The Daily Caller noted the double standard plainly: when athletes mouth approved political causes, corporate media calls them brave. When Cunningham defends women's sports, she's branded a liability.
Buckner points to figures like Riley Gaines, Enes Kanter Freedom, and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita showing up at Fever games as evidence that Cunningham attracted a "circus." She claims these people came "solely to antagonize and amplify a nonexistent issue in this basketball league." That "nonexistent issue" is the definition of the word "woman" — the same issue that has roiled the WNBA all season.
HotAir characterized Buckner's piece as a "hit piece" built on the fantasy that Clark was ever warmly embraced by her teammates and that Cunningham somehow originated the league's racial tensions. The reality is that Clark's arrival brought unprecedented attention — and scrutiny — to a league that has struggled for relevance.
Newsweek, covering the backlash, highlighted that some fan responses to Buckner were openly racist, which the outlet used to bolster accusations that the Fever fan base is "toxic." Players like Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston have spoken about the hostile environment. But Fever general manager Amber Cox pushed back hard, saying at a post-elimination presser that "the attacks on our fan base have no basis in reality, and they need to stop."
One fan response Newsweek highlighted cut to the heart of it: "Buckner seems to forget the W in WNBA stands for women. There was nothing wrong with what Sophie said originally. It's the response from the WNBA that made it blow up. The policy is the problem, not Sophie Cunningham."
Cunningham, 30, is an unrestricted free agent this offseason after averaging 7.9 points in 22.2 minutes per game. The Daily Caller reports the Fever are looking to re-sign her — the opposite of what the Times columnist prescribed.
The Athletic is owned by the New York Times Company, which paid $550 million for the platform in 2022. The purchase gave the Times a sports vertical and a pipeline for exactly this kind of ideological enforcement — dress a roster purge as roster advice.
The question isn't whether Cunningham stays. The Fever seem ready to keep her. The question is why a Times-owned outlet thinks it gets to pick the roster — and what happens to the next athlete who steps off the reservation.
