The Indiana Fever’s latest win over the Toronto Tempo, just like many games before it, was hijacked by the controversy surrounding Sophie Cunningham. Making her debut in a WNBA game outside the USA, the 30-year-old was booed throughout the game in Canada as Indiana picked up its fifth straight win. But rather than taking the reaction personally, Cunningham had a surprisingly positive message for the fans after the game.

“I want to shout out the Tempo crowd in the city,” she said during the post-game interview, as per an X post by Libaan Osman, a reporter for the Toronto Star. “I think we’ve had so much fun. It’s my first time being in Canada. It’s a lot of our first times being in Canada. But the crowd was absolutely amazing, and I think that’s what sports is all about.”

“You’re going to get boos, and you’re going to get cheers. But just the fact that they’re so passionate, they’re loud, and they’re putting on for the city. I think it’s amazing. So, shout out to you guys for coming out and supporting, ” she added.

Sophie Cunningham is currently one of the most polarizing athletes in the WNBA, ever since her comments on transgender athletes in women’s sports went viral on July 21, 2026. She has had fans boo and protest against her, with some at the Toronto game even holding up signs that read, “Transphobes don’t belong in women’s sports” and “We (heart) trans athletes.” But at the same time, she has also received massive support from fans who agree with her viewpoint.

Her supporters have continued to gather outside arenas during Indiana Fever road games, and the matchup against the Tempo was no different. Outside Scotiabank Arena, her supporters were caught on camera holding signs calling for the WNBA to remain “biological-women-only.”

Her positive response to the Toronto crowd, however, did not come out of nowhere. After her stance on transgender athletes went viral and the conversation quickly grew beyond basketball, Sophie Cunningham made it clear that she would rather keep the focus on the game.

“I’m going to let people just do the speaking for themselves, but for me, I want to get back to basketball,” she said in an interview with ESPN earlier this month.

Cunningham did not allow the boos to faze her, as she put up 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists off the bench. Yet the debate surrounding this topic is far from over, and Cunningham remains at the center of it.

During the Fever’s previous game against the Atlanta Dream, a mother and her daughter were reportedly asked to cover up their XX-XY Athletics apparel, which has become associated with support for Sophie Cunningham. The incident added more fuel to an already heated conversation, with XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey calling on supporters to show up for Indiana’s matchup against the New York Liberty on August 22.

For Cunningham, though, whether she is hearing boos inside an arena or seeing supporters outside it, she continues to insist that she wants the conversation to return to where it started: basketball.