Claim: Sophie Cunningham said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s job “maybe open at the end of the year” and called for bolder league leadership amid the ongoing transgender athlete eligibility debate.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham found herself at the center of headlines after publicly sharing her opposition to transgender girls and women competing in girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN report last month. Her comments quickly sparked small rallies and protests outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland.
The controversy prompted WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to call a task force meeting last week to discuss the league’s policies regarding transgender athletes. Now, the 30-year-old Cunningham has made another notable comment about Engelbert, this time addressing the commissioner’s future with the WNBA.
According to a wide-ranging profile published Wednesday by USA Today, Cunningham suggested that Engelbert’s job “maybe [is] open at the end of the year.” But how seriously should that claim be taken? Is Engelbert really at risk of losing her position? Here’s what we found.
Our Verdict: True
While speaking to USA Today, Cunningham indeed said that Engelbert could be out of her position as the WNBA Commissioner.
“You do have to have a person in power who is bold, who is confident, who wants the best for the players and not maybe for themselves all the time,” Cunningham said. “So I do feel like, as a whole, that could be a position that’s maybe open at the end of the year, but that’s not my call. [Engelbert’s] done a lot of good things, but with where our league is trying to go, I feel like you just want someone who also wants that.
“That’s just a hard position to be in, in her shoes, us as players ― we always want more, more, more because we see how good it can be, but … that’s up to Adam Silver at the end of the day.”
It’s worth noting that Engelbert’s tenure as the WNBA Commissioner is said to end with the 2026 season. And they can be terminated or asked to step down through a board vote or contract non-renewal based on governance, financial, or relationship-driven grounds.
Sophie Cunningham’s remarks on transgender participation in women’s and girls’ sports have drawn support from high school athletes like Wisconsin’s Ella Frei and Michigan volleyball player Briley Lechner. Both athletes publicly backed the WNBA star, saying her willingness to address the controversial issue encouraged them to speak about their own experiences.
Frei, who is suing her school district over its locker room policy, praised Cunningham for using her platform to advocate for female athletes. She said she was “ecstatic” to see a high-profile WNBA player take a position on an issue she believes has often been left unaddressed.
Lechner also credited Cunningham with motivating her to speak out. The Michigan volleyball player said she unknowingly competed against and shared a locker room with a transgender athlete during her most recent season. According to Lechner, Cunningham’s comments gave her and other female athletes greater confidence to publicly raise their concerns about transgender participation in women’s sports.
The comments come amid a broader legal battle over the issue. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld state laws barring transgender girls from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, overturning two lower-court rulings that had blocked the restrictions on the grounds that they violated Title IX and the 14th Amendment.
Our fact-checking sources:
- ABC News, July 1, 2026. Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender girls in girls’ sports
- ESPN, July 21, 2026. Love her or hate her, Sophie Cunningham won’t be ignored
- Fox News, July 26, 2026. Sophie Cunningham inspires high school athletes to speak out on fairness in women’s sports
- USA Today, August 19, 2026. Sophie Cunningham says WNBA can discuss both controversy, basketball