Sophine Cunningham said that she wants to “get back to basketball” amid a culture war firestorm engulfing the WNBA stemming that stemmed from her comments on transgender athletes.
It sounds like that might be a temporary ask.
According to Page Six Hollywood, the Indiana Fever player is currently “shopping [a] tell-all book.” Cunningham’s reps did not respond to a request for comment.
The report from Ian Mohr doesn’t provide any further details on the pitch, topics, or timeline. However, the timing presumes that any potential book would include her thoughts on the current situation surrounding Cunningham and the WNBA following her comments.
The 29-year-old, who is in the final year of her contract with the Fever, made waves last month in an ESPN profile in which she said she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” That kicked off an intense round of media criticism in both directions and cemented Cunningham’s “MAGA Barbie” nickname for many.
Since then, Cunningham has doubled down on her opinion and seemingly embraced the attention while many others around the WNBA have voiced their support for transgender women. Meanwhile, the right-wing media ecosystem has turned Cunningham into a cause celebre and rallied around the issue, coupling it with culture-war conversations around Cunningham’s teammate Caitlin Clark and her perceived treatment in the league.
“There is so much good going on in the WNBA. I think basketball is being played at the highest level it’s ever been,” Cunningham told WISH-TV News in Indianapolis last week. “There’s just so much distraction. The WNBA media, all we ever do is cover everything except basketball. It’s like, what are we doing? You can talk about other things, I think those are great stories, it shows fans who people are outside of the court, but I also think we gotta keep the main thing the main thing.
“I want to get back to basketball, it’s always been about basketball. That interview happened in February when I was asked a question. And for me, I just want to make sure the focus stays where it should.”
A hard foul and its subsequent fallout in this past weekend’s Fever-Sky game ensured that Cunningham’s time in the narrative sun isn’t over yet. And given how well the Fever are playing, it stands to reason there will be plenty more opportunities ahead to remain in the spotlight.
Given that she’s not guaranteed a contract to play next season, it stands to reason that a book deal would be a prudent move, presuming that attention and money are more important than just getting “back to basketball.”
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