Marty York: The WNBA’s Sophie Cunningham tells it like it is

Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever signs autographs ahead of an WNBA game against the Toronto Tempo at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Aug. 18. Cunningham was booed by some attending the game, likely for her opposition to transgender athletes playing in women's sports, writes Marty York. Photo by Tara Walton / Getty Images

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As a backup who comes off the bench, Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever is not the most talented player in the Women’s National Basketball Association. There is little doubt, however, that she has emerged this season as the most renowned.

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And there’s no question that she has played a major role in the league’s soaring attendance figures and television ratings.

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At 30, the 6-foot-1 guard/forward is averaging only about eight points a game. Yet, chiefly because of her and teammate Caitlin Clark, the WNBA has ascended into considerable prominence.

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Recently, the first-year Toronto Tempo, not a formidable team in the WNBA, drew an atypical decent crowd because the opponent was the Fever. Toronto fans would be hard-pressed to name two players with the Tempo, but identifying Cunningham and Clark of Indiana has turned into a breeze for even the most casual of WNBA followers.

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Not that the duo is popular with Toronto fans. No, Clark was booed in Toronto because, well, she’s a truly terrific superstar in the WNBA, and the booing is a sign of respect, much the way Bobby Orr or LeBron James would be booed during their respective games in Toronto, and elsewhere.

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But the booing of Cunningham struck me as bizarre, to say the least.  She wasn’t being targeted in Toronto because she is Clark’s on-court protector. Nor was she being booed because of her delightful personality, swagger, beauty and marketability.

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She was being booed because she had the audacity to tell ESPN in a much-publicized interview that she is opposed to transgender athletes playing in women’s sports. Even women in Toronto booed Cunningham. Weird, eh? Women booing a woman for sticking up for women.

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Cunningham said she wasn’t bothered even slightly by the booing in Toronto. “I’m here to extend love,” she told reporters. “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.”

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She is bang-on and, after doing some in-depth research on the subject, I wholeheartedly agree with Cunningham.

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Allowing biological men, with their undeniable physical advantages in strength, speed and endurance, to compete against biological females undermines the progress being made in women’s sports.

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Dr. Gregory Brown, a professor of exercise science at the University of Nebraska, has produced more than 60 peer-reviewed publications for academic journals. He wrote last January that “Female athletes have been injured and deprived of roster spots, starting positions, awards and championships in their own category, all due to the mistaken belief that a transgender identity somehow negates the well-documented performance advantages conferred by male sex.”