It blew it.Reporters had access to the league’s biggest players and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert just days after Sophie Cunningham said biological males should not compete in girls' and women's sports.Yet not one public answer emerged from the weekend about whether the league’s stars agreed with her.SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM SPEAKS OUT TO PROTECT GIRLS AS WNBA ALL-STAR INITIATIVE BACKS ‘GENDER-EXPANSIVE’ GROUPIndiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said protecting young girls in sports is "common sense." (Getty Images)The outcome was, sadly, predictable.Before the event, I wrote on X:It did not.One important disclosure: OutKick and Fox News Digital attempted to cover All-Star Weekend in person, and I planned to ask the players and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert about Cunningham’s comments (if given the chance).
We applied for a credential through the NBA/WNBA credential portal, but the league denied the request because it was submitted 10 days after its June 16 deadline.The portal was still open and accepted the application, which was submitted four weeks prior to the event.I had not received the WNBA’s original credential advisory or either of the two reminder emails the league said it sent.We asked the league to reconsider, noting that OutKick and Fox News Digital were approved to cover last year's All-Star Game, but the WNBA stood by its decision.So, no, OutKick did not ask the players in Chicago because we didn't have access to do so.That left the job to the reporters who received credentials.After reviewing the publicly available press conferences, interview videos, transcripts and coverage from All-Star Weekend, I could not find one instance of a WNBA All-Star or Commissioner Cathy Engelbert being asked about Cunningham’s statement.Cunningham’s comments came in an ESPN profile published just before the All-Star break."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...