On July 21, Sophie Cunningham sat with ESPN’s Hallie Grossman and revealed her views on trans athletes competing in women’s sports. “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men,” said Cunningham, and that answer has sparked a widespread debate, including fans from opposite sides of the argument gathering for demonstrations during Indiana Fever games.

Now, after three rallies and multiple controversial moments later, Sophie Cunningham herself called out the media for the kind of coverage that followed after her ESPN interview. Naturally, the Fever guard’s latest response also sparked fresh criticism from fans online. Now, analyst and podcaster Ben Daniel has once again defended Cunningham following her callout.

“This is my response to all those people. Sophie Cunningham got asked a question by ESPN. She responded to that question honestly, and then not only the WNBA but just sports in general are saying she started it,” Daniel said on his podcast on August 5.

“Sophie didn’t start it. She got asked a question. She answered honestly. So technically ESPN started it. Technically, ESPN is the one that threw a grenade into the room and just walked out and watched mayhem unfold.”

Cunningham told reporters on Wednesday that she wants the focus to be on basketball-related activities, now that her comments have translated into a full-blown political slugfest.

“I’m going to let people just do the speaking for themselves, but for me, I want to get back to basketball. I just want to make sure that the focus stays where it should because people are playing at such a high level,” Cunningham said as Indiana prepares to take on the Las Vegas Aces at home, as per ESPN.

“The WNBA media, all we ever do is cover everything except basketball … You can talk about other things, those are great stories, it shows fans who people outside of the court, but I think we gotta keep the main thing the main thing.”

Meanwhile, Daniel criticized the mainstream WNBA media for putting too much emphasis on Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever players, when there are other notable events to cover. He cited the example of the Lynx’s nine-game winning streak and mentioned that while the Cunningham saga remained in the headlines, there was not enough coverage of actual basketball.

So it’s not hard to see why Cunningham called out the WNBA media. The game between the Lynx and the Fever was their first meeting of the season. However, the tone of the game was set even before a single ball hit the hardcourt. Fans organized the straight rally on game day as supporters and opposing fans showed up outside Target Center in Minneapolis.

Although Cunningham and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had a respectful conversation about differing opinions on the issue, Reeve wore a “Trans Kids Belong” shirt during the game, which added more fuel to the fire.

Unfortunately for Sophie Cunningham, this debate may not be going away anytime soon

While no rallies have been planned by Cunningham supporters for the Indiana Fever’s home game against the Las Vegas Aces, the fourth rally has already been announced. As per Fox News reporter Jackson Thompson, ROAR Women, NYC, have announced the rally will happen on July 25.

“A fourth Sophie Cunningham rally has been planned for Aug. 22 in New York for the Fever’s game against the Liberty,” Thompson posted on X along with the digital poster for the upcoming rally.

Unfortunately for Cunningham and Co., the last three rallies have barely moved the needle toward either side of the argument. Instead, counter-protests have shown up to oppose the rallies in support of Cunningham in Seattle, Portland and Minnesota.

The disconnect between fans has also led to at least two major incidents inside the arenas. In Seattle, Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton got barred from five home games for accosting two teenage girls who brought signs supporting Sophie Cunningham. Then in Minneapolis, Riley Gaines claimed that stadium security told her to put her Sophie Cunningham sign away.

These incidents haven’t just been distracting for the Fever guard herself but also her teammates. Caitlin Clark completely avoided a question asking for her opinion on the trans athlete debate, and like Cunningham, tried to steer focus back to basketball.

“I think it’s for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions. Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins, and obviously we didn’t do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way,” Clark said after Sunday’s 108-100 loss to the Lynx.

So, while Cunningham and her teammates are focusing on moving on, the news coverage, rallies, and further controversies have continued to snowball.