Sophie Cunningham’s former Indiana Fever teammate has told white players in the WNBA to ‘shut the f*** up’ on the debate around transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Cunningham has become one of the most debated athletes in America after sparking discussions about transgender inclusion in sports following an interview with ESPN this summer – where she claimed ‘young girls’ shouldn’t ‘have to go against biological men.’
Since then, the WNBA has been left divided as fans, players and coaches weigh in on the matter and, for weeks, protests were prevalent at every Fever game.
Sydney Colson, who spent the 2025 WNBA season playing for the Fever alongside Cunningham and Caitlin Clark before she tore her ACL and subsequently left as a free agent, did not mention Cunningham by name but slammed her point of view.
‘For the white players in the league, when you don’t say s***, and even worse, when you say things that are harmful, talking about the trans s***, nobody respects you,’ Colson said on her podcast.
‘Shut the f*** up. Shut the f*** up. Nobody wants to hear your opinion. Freedom of speech, so you can say it, but just know people are trying to get by when they’re dealing with you.’
Sophie Cunningham’s former teammate has told white players in the WNBA to ‘shut the f*** up’ on the debate around transgender athletes in women’s sports
Colson also celebrated DiJonai Carrington’s violent foul on Cunningham back in August
Colson spent last year with the Fever alongside Cunningham and Caitlin Clark before an injury
Cunningham became embroiled in a transgender debate back in July when she gave a lengthy interview to ESPN in which she claimed that young girls shouldn’t have to compete against transgender athletes.
She then doubled down in further interviews, insisting it was ‘common sense’ and that she would ‘never falter’ in her beliefs.
Cunningham has since been the subject of abuse at various WNBA games and there have been protests supporting both sides of the argument across the country.
In response to Cunningham’s remarks, Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve opted to wear a T-shirt that read ‘Trans kids belong’ while on the sidelines of their game in August.
Back in August, Colson also aimed a thinly-veiled dig at Cunningham following DiJonai Carrington’s aggressive foul on her.
Cunningham was shooting a layup in the first quarter of the Fever’s game against the Chicago Sky when Carrington came from behind and hit her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in.
The Sky star was assessed a flagrant 2 and ejected from the game, with both Cunningham and her teammate Caitlin Clark seen waving as Carrington headed to the locker room.
But Colson couldn’t hide her pleasure at watching Cunningham get smashed across the head by Carrington.
‘I love a trans foul,’ she posted on her Threads account after the incident took place.
Cameras also caught Cunningham, 30, smiling and clapping at the officials’ decision after footage from moments earlier appeared to show Cunningham call her rival a ‘dumb a** b****’ and shouting: ‘Why the f*** would you do that?’
Following her ejection, Carrington posted on social media from inside the locker room. ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever,’ she wrote.
