Sophie Cunningham put her recent WNBA controversies behind her by enjoying a night out at a raucous Indiana bar.
Just hours after the Fever beat the Dallas Wings 98-87 on Friday night, Cunningham was seen climbing atop the bar at Clayton’s Country Bar in Indianapolis for a singalong.
Cunningham, who turned 30 on Sunday, was joined on the bar by a man and they sang Toby Keith’s patriotic classic ‘Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue’.
The delighted patrons stood down below sang along with Cunningham in the chaotic scenes that came after weeks of controversy for the WNBA star.
She was first thrust into the spotlight when she voiced opposition to trans athletes in women’s sports.
Cunningham’s comments sparked protests and counterprotests across several stops on a recent Indiana road trip.
Sophie Cunningham put her recent WNBA controversies behind her by enjoying a night out
‘I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, “I never once said that,”‘ Cunningham told ESPN.
‘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.’
Days later, she doubled down on that position and added: ‘I said what I said, I think it’s common sense. I think I’ll always believe in that, it’s really important to protect children.
‘And that’s little girls, who are also involved in that category. I stand by what I said, and I’ll always believe that.’
Then, during the finale of the Fever’s three-game road trip, Chicago Sky’s DiJonai Carrington got ejected for a hard foul on Cunningham which led to uproar from the Indiana forward’s supporters.
In response to online criticism over the foul, Carrington, who is Black, wrote ‘white privilege’ on X.
Later, in another post, she denied writing that comment in response to the foul call, but did not offer any further explanation.
DiJonai Carrington’s hard foul on Cunningham last week sparked another major controversy
Cunningham is left with a bloody mouth after receiving a hard foul from Carrington last week
The WNBA later called for an end to the ‘vitriol’ that has been directed at its players this season as it announced its stance on transgender eligibility following a meeting between head honchos to address the recent storm.
League general managers and presidents met on Wednesday as part of an anti-hate task force to discuss the subject of athlete eligibility amid the transgender debate.
Despite the uproar, the powers-that-be determined that there were no issues with its eligibility criteria, suggesting that no changes would be made.
The league announced following the meeting that it had ruled that there were ‘no immediate eligibility matters affecting’ the WNBA at this time.
