USA TODAY Network
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is coming to Sophie Cunningham’s defense after she made some controversial comments about youth trans athletes.
On Wednesday, Cunningham told ESPN that it was important for her to speak out against trans athletes competing in women’s sports.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’” she says. “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.”
Cunningham would later double down on her comments while speaking to the media before the Fever-Sun game.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense. … I think it’s really important to protect children.”
“I don’t dislike anyone. … I’m there to love, but I’m also there to love biological women. …”
Sophie Cunningham responds to criticism over her recent comments to ESPN about wanting to protect women’s sports from “biological men.”
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense.
When it comes just to protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very… pic.twitter.com/2uh0MWj8zM
— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) July 23, 2026
During his YouTube show, Smith came to Cunningham’s defense and said trans athletes would have an “unfair” advantage in women’s sports.
“What if an NBA player decided to transition to playing in the WNBA?” Smith asked. “How elite would they be? How great would they be? We gotta put stuff in its proper perspective and call it like it is.”
“We live in a society where people got scared. They got scared to say these things. We’ve got to stop that. Every truth ain’t meant to be told…but it ain’t meant to be hidden either,” Smith continued. “You can’t have a society where we’re ignoring the clear unfairness of a male transitioning to female and competing in their sports. It is clearly unfair to women. Sophie Cunningham is a thousand percent right!”
“What if an NBA player decided to transition to playing in the WNBA? How elite would they be? How great would they be? We gotta put stuff in its proper perspective and call it like it is” – Stephen A. Smith on SiriusXM pic.twitter.com/dzxAFCZe9X
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 23, 2026