Fever coach Stephanie White admits frustration with lingering Sophie Cunningham drama

Even Sophie Cunningham’s coach is getting tired of the firestorm the WNBA star has stirred up, though she admits attention and scrutiny come hand-in-hand with the league’s growth.While the Indiana Fever are winning games, they’re having to do it despite the distractions brought on by Cunningham’s comments about trans athletes.And head coach Stephanie White addressed the matter, saying she didn’t approve of “exclusion” and admitting “frustration” at the focus being drawn away from basketball.“I don’t know that I would say that I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint.(But) I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer.

I just don’t,” White said pregame Friday.“I do think when we think about various levels of sport, various governing bodies of sport, and things that go into that.

Like I said, I’m not educated enough at the different levels.I know, growing up, I played with the boys all the time.”Cunningham clearly disagreed, courting controversy by advocating for barring transgender girls and women from female sports.In a recent ESPN interview, she stated that girls “shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”That sparked a fervor, and then pro-Cunningham protests in response to the blowback.

All of that has swirled around Indiana, which has managed to go 19-10 despite the distraction after downing the Fire 112-98 in Portland on Friday night in another game that featured Cunningham being booed.“There is a frustration, of course, because we want to talk about basketball and we want to continue to work on our game, and we want to continue to grow as a team,” said White.“But I also understand, like this is part of our growth edge as a league, right? We have to be able to insulate as much as we can, and then we have to be able to lead with conversation.”For her part, Cunningham has been unfazed at any possible distractionThere was a pro-Cunningham rally outside Climate Pledge Arena for Indiana’s tilt agai...