The Indiana Fever took on the Seattle Storm on Tuesday night in Seattle, Washington. The game was Indiana’s first out of the 2026 All-Star Weekend. However, the conversation surrounding the Fever heading into the game was less about their improved play as of late and more about reserve guard Sophie Cunningham’s recent comments regarding transgender athletes.

In an ESPN profile on her, Cunningham did not hold back on what she feels needs to be done to “protect women’s sports.”

“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,'” Cunningham said. “I think that I am here to extend love. 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.”

Her comments became a sparkplug for online debate, with some such as Stephen A. Smith agreeing with her, while others, such as her childhood friend West Wilson, insisted that transgender athletes competing in sports is largely a non-issue.

Fans were just as torn as media members. A group of Seattle community members planned a rally to support Cunningham before Tuesday’s game, which others predictably objected to. The divisiveness continued into the arena.

During the game, one fan seated near the court was holding a sign that read “NO HATE IN THE UNITED STATES,” while another fan brandished a sign that supported Cunningham and read “Thank you Sophie for speaking up for girls.”

Per one popular aggregation account on X, the fan sporting the pro-Cunningham sign, who was wearing a shirt referencing X and Y chromosomes, was forced to take it down. Fans on social media had strong reactions to the sign being forcibly removed.

“If the pro Sophie sign had to go down the anti Sophie sign should’ve went down too. Just selective,” one fan posted on X.

“Injecting trans people into men and women’s sports is discriminatory to men and women,” someone else added.

Another fan called to “boycott this league.”

Cunningham likely won’t care about the sign’s removal considering the Fever gutted out a 105-95 win. However, she may keep her comments on hot-button issues closer to the vest in the future just to keep the distractions to a minimum down the home stretch of the season.