January 1, WNBA Star Takes Vicious Hit After Standing Up for Women’s Sports

Wyatt’s Take

• Sophie Cunningham got brutally attacked on the court after daring to say women’s sports should be for women — and the liberal media buried it
• ABC and NBC completely ignored the story while CBS actually covered the controversy, proving most networks care more about woke politics than women’s safety
• The WNBA commissioner can call concerned fans ‘haters’ but somehow can’t define what a woman is — that’s the insanity we’re dealing with

Back in early August, ABC’s “Good Morning America” was celebrating the Women’s National Basketball Association like everything was perfect. ABC airs WNBA games nationwide, so naturally they wanted to pump up the league. Their reporter asked what the biggest story was in women’s basketball.

Hours later, the real story exploded — and the networks ran for the hills.

Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham got brutally whacked in the face going up for a layup. This wasn’t some accident. Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington got ejected from the game, then rushed to the locker room and blamed “White privilege” for the consequences of her actions.

Here’s what makes this story massive: Cunningham had become controversial in the eyes of the woke mob for one simple reason. She said women’s basketball should be limited to women. That’s it. That’s her crime.

ABC and NBC? Crickets. They didn’t want to touch this story with a ten-foot pole, whether as a sportsmanship issue or a culture war flashpoint.

Only CBS — yeah, CBS — actually reported on it multiple times. Maybe that’s why liberals are so mad at their editor-in-chief these days.

Back on July 29, CBS Evening News covered how the WNBA suspended Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton for yelling at two girls who supported Cunningham’s position. The girls said Keaton called them “f—ing insane” just for showing up with signs.

CBS reporter Jan Crawford explained the bigger picture.

“Cunningham, known for fearlessly defending teammate Caitlin Clark on the court, is the first active professional female athlete to speak out against transgender females in women’s sports. In an ESPN profile earlier this month, Cunningham says girls in sports shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Then came Cunningham’s own words, which the establishment absolutely hates.

“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense. And I think I’ll always believe in that.”

When asked if her words could sound “anti-transgender,” Cunningham fired back with basic decency.

“I have never once said I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there’s space for everyone.”

There is space for everyone — men have the entire category of men’s sports available to them.

CBS returned to the story two days after Cunningham got hit on the court. Crawford reported that fans on both sides have been vocal, and two former NBA players made their point crystal clear by announcing they’d identify as women and declare for the WNBA draft.

After showing Enes Kanter Freedom saying he declared for the WNBA draft, Crawford added context.

“The firestorm has put a harsh spotlight on the WNBA with critics saying the league wasn’t ready for its explosion of popularity.”

NPR sounded downright annoyed when they briefly raised the issue on their morning program in mid-August. Co-host Eyder Peralta noted that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced a task force to discuss “transgender participation” — meaning men — in women’s sports.

But then he tried to make the whole controversy sound unnecessary.

“Now, we should point out that the WNBA has never had any known transgender athletes. Michele, the WNBA has seen explosive growth in recent years, but it seems like the league is also struggling to keep the spotlight on the court, doesn’t it?”

Former ESPN reporter Michele Steele jumped right in with the liberal line.

“Yeah. The league’s on-the-court story is genuinely great, but the off-the-court noise keeps competing for that headline.”

There it is — disagreeing with leftist orthodoxy is just “noise” to these people.

Steele kept going, making excuses for the league’s complete paralysis on basic biology.

“And you said it yourself, the WNBA has never had a known transgender player. Now, the task force just cannot unilaterally announce they’re going to change eligibility because this is collectively bargained with the players’ union, so they can study the question on transgender players, but they can’t hand down a new rule. Their statement was very pointed this week, denouncing bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean and marginalize others. They’re very clearly frustrated, Eyder, at being pulled into this.”

WNBA games are becoming forums for fans supporting Cunningham’s common-sense position. League officials can only call it a “bad-faith” effort to “marginalize” biological men who claim to be women.

It’s somehow not in “bad faith” to pretend to be a woman when you’re not. Kanter is engaged in a “stunt,” but men who sincerely “identify” as women aren’t?

The WNBA met to discuss “transgender participation,” but somehow couldn’t agree on a policy. In late August, the Associated Press reported that Commissioner Engelbert complained about the whole situation.

“We’re being the center of political football for people who have never watched the WNBA, never have written about the WNBA or reported on the WNBA. … There’s always going to be haters out there, and we denounce it.”

So the league has a position on what a “hater” is, but not on what a woman is.

Wyatt Matters

This is where we are in America right now. A female athlete says women’s sports should be for women, and she gets attacked — both by activists on the court and by a media establishment that won’t even cover the story. The working folks in Middle America can see this insanity for what it is. Common sense isn’t controversial. Biology isn’t bigotry. And when the people running women’s sports can’t even define what a woman is, we’ve got a serious problem that goes way beyond basketball.