NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has sought the input of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, a vocal opponent of transgender women competing in women’s sports, as the WNBA prepares to select its next commissioner.
Cunningham said she has spoken with Silver several times as the league moves toward replacing Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who announced she will retire after the 2026 season. Silver was involved in bringing Engelbert to the WNBA and is expected to have a role in the search for her successor.
“I have talked to Adam Silver a couple times, and I think he’s a great guy,” Cunningham said.
“He was very knowledgeable and full of wisdom, and so getting to talk to him and hear his perspective of how he approaches the NBA is huge, who he’s kind of looking for. I think if you want to know the real answers, you go to him.”
Silver’s discussions with Cunningham bring one of the WNBA’s more outspoken players into a major leadership conversation as the league prepares for a change at the top.
Cunningham has become increasingly vocal on contentious issues involving women’s basketball, including transgender participation in women’s sports.
She has publicly opposed transgender women competing in women’s sports, arguing that women’s competition should be based on biological sex. She has maintained that stance despite criticism and protests at Fever games.
“I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham told reporters in July.
“And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. And so I’ll stand on what I said, and I’ll always believe that.”
Cunningham has pushed back against characterizations that her position reflects hostility toward transgender people.
“I think there is room for absolutely everyone here, and I think there is room to love everyone,” she said. “But I’m also there to love biological women, and I think that there are rights that need to be protected.”
She has framed her stance primarily around protecting women’s sports and opportunities provided under Title IX.
“When it comes to just protecting young girls in sport and women in sport, I feel very strongly about that,” Cunningham said. “That’s why you have Title IX. That’s why you have some of the greats in women’s sports.”
The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement says only women are eligible to play in the league but does not specifically address transgender women. No transgender players are currently in the WNBA, while Cunningham’s position has drawn both support and criticism from players, coaches and other figures in women’s basketball.
