{"id":2677722,"date":"2026-10-07T06:17:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T10:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-times-campaigns-for-the-indiana-fever-to-part-with-sophie-cunningham-because-of-conservatives\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T06:20:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T10:20:40","slug":"new-york-times-campaigns-for-the-indiana-fever-to-part-with-sophie-cunningham-because-of-conservatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-times-campaigns-for-the-indiana-fever-to-part-with-sophie-cunningham-because-of-conservatives\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Times Campaigns for the Indiana Fever to Part with Sophie Cunningham Because of Conservatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-york-times-campaigns-for-the-indiana-fever-to-part-with-sophie-cunningham-because-of-conservatives%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2677722&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-what-happened-the-last-time-israel-invaded-lebanon-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"This is what happened the last time Israel invaded Lebanon - Washington Examiner\">provided content discusses<\/a> a controversy surrounding a New York Times opinion column that criticizes a WNBA player, Sophie Cunningham, for her outspoken stance on biological realities related to transgender issues. The column,authored by Candace Buckner,argues that Cunningham\u2019s vocal support for biological facts has led to her being targeted and ostracized within her team,with some suggesting she shoudl be cut from the roster. The article highlights that the real reason for Cunningham\u2019s criticism is her stance on gender identity, which Buckner falsely portrays as disruptive to team harmony. The author of the summary criticizes this view, emphasizing that rejecting or questioning gender ideology is not a valid reason for dismissing a player who has earned her place based on merit. It also underscores that larger societal issues, such as the displacement of female athletes at lower levels by males identifying as females, are the real concern, rather than individual athletes expressing personal views.the piece condemns the politicization of sports and defends merit-based participation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fair or not, there\u2019s been a longstanding stereotype that liberals and leftists hate sports.<\/p>\n<p>Between the proliferation of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >pathetic \u201cparticipation trophy\u201d culture<\/a> and the way the left had a meltdown over the Washington \u201cRedskins\u201d moniker \u2014 which many Native Americans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/native-american-group-tells-commanders-change-team-name-back-redskins-threatens-boycott\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">actually preferred<\/a> to \u201cCommanders\u201d \u2014 you can see why all stereotypes begin with a kernel of truth.<\/p>\n<p>But whatever doubts may have lingered that the left hates sports were virtually erased on Tuesday, when a New York Times opinion column for their sports site, The Athletic, published one of the more asinine reasons for wanting a team to cut ties with a player.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">From @TheAthletic: If the Indiana Fever ever wants to go back to being a basketball team, Sophie Cunningham has to go, our columnist writes. \u201cCunningham is too combustible, her takes too turbulent to be paired with Caitlin Clark.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/X3eXkxlgDh<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The New York Times (@nytimes) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nytimes\/status\/2107466929451483489?\">October 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The thesis of this opinion piece from Candace Buckner is simple enough to grasp: The WNBA\u2019s Indiana Fever should cut ties with key bench player Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p>As an <em>actual<\/em> sports fan, I can, in fact, entertain this particular, initial thought.<\/p>\n<p>Is Cunningham making too much money in a salary capped league for a bench player? Are her shooting splits getting worse as she enters the other side of 30? Is she routinely ignoring her coach and blowing up set plays to freelance?<\/p>\n<p>Those would all be very legitimate reasons to want Cunningham cut from the Fever.<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 surprise, surprise \u2014 that\u2019s not at all why Buckner wants Cunningham blacklisted from the WNBA.<\/p>\n<p>After complaining that former NBA players <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/second-former-nba-player-declares-wnba-draft-controversy-escalates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Royce White<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/nba-vet-hoping-join-wnba-first-trans-player-says-coming-caitlin-clarks-biggest-hater-angel-reese\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Enes Kanter Freedom<\/a> declared for the WNBA, and dared to show up to WNBA games to highlight the absurdity of a man simply claiming he\u2019s a woman, Buckner pinned the blame for these stunts on Cunningham for daring to take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sophie-cunningham-sends-message-trans-mob-critics-telling-kick-rocks-pre-game-sweatshirt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a stand for biological reality<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey all showed up to be part of a circus, not to enjoy a WNBA game,\u201d Buckner argued. \u201cThey attended solely to antagonize and amplify a nonexistent issue in this basketball league. All because of Sophie Cunningham. This was the season when the Fever and even the whole Caitlin Clark experience took a backseat to a bench player with big opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo if the Fever ever want to go back to being a basketball team again and follow the lead of rivals openly clashing with the forces trying to hijack their league, then Cunningham has to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oh, brother. This might be a textbook definition of a strawman argument is.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody said that gender identity was infecting professional women\u2019s basketball. The claim was that it was infecting <em>all <\/em>of women\u2019s sports at the amateur level. And given that males identifying as females have undoubtedly displaced actual female athletes at lower levels, <em>that <\/em>absurdity was what White and Freedom were taking a stand against. If an average male sprinter is suddenly allowed to rewrite the female record books, what in the world is an average NBA player going to do in the WNBA? The absurdity was the point.<\/p>\n<p>But again, let me try and be fair. Let\u2019s say, yes, White and Freedom were being performative dunces looking to get some attention. What in the world does that have to do with Cunningham\u2019s stance on biological reality?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCunningham is too combustible, her takes too turbulent to be paired with Caitlin Clark,\u201d Bucker wrote. \u201cOn the same team, it\u2019s just too much. Clark, by her presence alone, already can\u2019t get through a season without being thrown into gutter debates that pit White against Black; hate that appears even in the DMs of her own teammates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCunningham, with only a few words, introduced new divisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AH. There it is! This writer is mad that Cunningham wanting to discuss transgenderism has taken away from the incessant race-bashing that Cunningham\u2019s teammate, Fever star Caitlin Clark, is subjected to both off and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wnba-reporter-claims-cheap-shot-artists-fouling-caitlin-clark-actually-real-victims-racism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on the court<\/a>. That makes sense!<\/p>\n<p>(And yes, I\u2019m being exceptionally uncharitable to what she wrote because she\u2019s being rather uncharitable to Cunningham.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, there are real basketball reasons for wanting a 30-year-old bench player averaging 8 points a game off a team. Maybe there\u2019s a talented young rookie. Maybe her on-court skills are atrophying. Maybe she\u2019s just a bad teammate.<\/p>\n<p>But not affirming your LGBT dogma is not a reason for a professional athlete who has earned her place on the team to be kicked to the curb.<\/p>\n<p>Most actual sports fans understand this because they also understand the virtue and value of merit.<\/p>\n<p>This New York Times opinion columnist is proving that liberal sports fans apparently don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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