MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� A crowd of critics and supporters of Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham’s in women鈥檚 sports gathered around and inside Target Center on Sunday as the Fever faced the Lynx in Minnesota.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a light blue shirt under her jacket that said, 鈥淭rans kids belong鈥� as she directed her team 鈥� the top team in the WNBA 鈥� to a . There were fans in the stands wearing T-shirts that read, 鈥淭rans kids belong in sports.鈥�
It’s the third straight after Cunningham recently voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls鈥� and women鈥檚 sports in an ESPN article published last week.
Before the contest, Cunningham and Reeve held a conversation at midcourt. Reeve didn’t want to share the exact nature of their talk.
鈥淏oth of us understand that we have platforms and we both talked about wanting to, more than anything, educate,鈥� Reeve said. 鈥淭here are some things that we have in common, and maybe some things you differ on, just like any issues. I think it鈥檚 how you handle things. It was nice to be in person, for sure.鈥�
Cunningham was booed by the crowd on her first touch of the game and throughout.
Outside the arena, dozens of fans gathered near the entrance. A person using a There were signs held up that read, 鈥淟ove is truth” and 鈥淭hank you Sophie.鈥�
Asked how she and the team are navigating the outside conversations, Caitlin Clark said after the game, 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e excellent.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 for leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淥ur focus is on basketball. That鈥檚 what we talk about and how we can get wins and obviously we didn鈥檛 do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way.鈥�
Any reaction?
鈥淚 just answered,鈥� Clark said.
Cunningham said Friday in Portland that she wasn’t concerned about rallies against transgender participation in women鈥檚 sports becoming a distraction for .
鈥淚 think everyone who knows me personally, they know that I鈥檓 full of love. I鈥檓 bubbly. I love the people around me,鈥� Cunningham said Friday. 鈥淚 love basketball. I love inspiring the next generation and doing that in a positive light. And so that doesn鈥檛 even cross my mind. Doesn鈥檛 cross my teammates鈥� minds.鈥�
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