Did basketball player Sophie Cunningham refuse to apologize for her words about transgender athletes in women's sports and thus get suspended for five games? No, that's not true: This story originated as self-described satire. As of this writing, Cunningham was not suspended.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X by @mcafeenew on July 30, 2026. It opened:
🚨WNBA SUPERSTAR SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SAYS SHE'LL TAKE A 5-GAME SUSPENSION RATHER THAN RECANT HER POSITION ON MEN IN WOMEN'S SPORTS!
The post continued:
The WNBA -- possibly the wokest organization in America -- gave Sophie Cunningham a choice: apologize for saying women and girls deserve to be protected in their own locker rooms, or take a 5-game suspension. She's choosing the bench. While the league continues pushing biological males into women's spaces, Cunningham refuses to bend the knee. She would rather sit out games than betray female athletes and young girls who deserve fairness and safety.
The image attached to the post repeated the claim. This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @mcafeenew on X.)
The claim started to circulate online after Indiana Fever basketball player Sophie Cunningham said (archived here) she wanted to "protect young girls in the locker room" and that "they shouldn't have to go against biological men."
The story about the supposed suspension, however, wasn't true. The player said nothing about it on her account on Instagram. A Google search across the WNBA's account on X (archived here) didn't reveal such an announcement. A search on Google News (archived here) didn't show any credible reporting supporting the rumor, either.
In reality, the WNBA suspended another person for a five-game period. That was Celeste Keaton, a co-owner of the Seattle Storm basketball team. The disciplinary measure followed a heated exchange with female teenage fans supporting Cunningham's views (archived here).
The story about Cunningham's supposed suspension originated from the @ALLODRetro page on Facebook, where it was posted on July 28, 2026:
(Image source: post by @ALLODRetro on Facebook.)
The account is part of a self-described satire network named "America's Last Line of Defense," run by self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair from Maine along with friends and allies. The page's description reads:
An authorized dumping ground for certified AI-free trollery and right-wing propaganda courtesy of America's Last Line of Defense. Nothing on this page is real.
