Indiana Fever Silences Question About Sophie Cunningham Comments

An Indiana Fever representative quickly stopped a reporter from OutKick when he tried to ask players about Sophie Cunningham’s recent comments regarding trans athletes during a postgame press conference in Portland on Friday night.

After the team’s 112-98 victory over the Portland Fire, the attempt to question Cunningham’s remarks resulted in the press conference ending abruptly and was notably excluded from the Fever’s official YouTube upload.

The press conference involved Aliyah Boston, Makayla Timpson, and head coach Stephanie White. Boston talked about how the team handles the increased attention gained over recent seasons, focusing primarily on winning games and ignoring outside distractions. She emphasized the importance of professional conduct in keeping focused on basketball goals.

“Yeah, I think first of all that’s what we build with who we have coming in. We know that there is always going to be attention with the Fever and for us it’s about coming in and winning games,” Boston said. “It’s about showing up and doing what we can to continue to take steps forward in this league, and I think there is always going to be outside noise.”

After Boston’s response, the OutKick reporter attempted to discuss Cunningham’s recent statements regarding women’s sports and trans athletes. A Fever representative stepped in to end the press conference, leaving Boston to thank the reporters before exiting the podium.

The Fever did not include the exchange between the reporter and the public relations staff in their YouTube video and did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the incident.

Alongside the press conference, Caitlin Clark, who achieved a fourth triple-double in her career, was also not made available for media comment following the team’s fifth consecutive win. For the second consecutive game, rallies outside the arena occurred in support of Cunningham’s stance on trans athletes in women’s sports.