The Indiana Fever handled the controversy surrounding Sophie Cunningham by releasing an official statement after the Fever’s game against the Seattle Storm on Tuesday, when Forbes reporter Roberta F. Rodrigues asked head coach Stephanie White about the fan rally that took place outside the arena in support of Cunningham.
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However, a representative from the Fever’s public relations team stepped in to make the statement and prevented White from answering. WNBA journalist Annie Costabile found it quite unprofessional, as she noted on Friday’s episode of the No Offseason Podcast.
“If someone’s going to say something, they are going to be asked about it. They should be prepared to be asked about it. And as a franchise, Steph obviously didn’t take this stance. But she’s the coach of the team of the player who took this stance. She also has to be prepared to be asked about this. And that’s where I think there’s a lack of professionalism in the WNBA. There are things said and done. And then when it comes to the accountability of being asked about it, people want to step in in this form of quote-unquote protection, which is not how things work.”
The said rally took place before the Fever’s game against the Seattle Storm. Demonstrators gathered outside Climate Pledge Arena before tip-off while holding signs thanking Sophie Cunningham for speaking out. A similar rally also took place ahead of Indiana’s game against the Portland Fire, where women’s sports advocacy groups stood in solidarity with Cunningham outside the Moda Center in Portland.
The statement the Indiana Fever released emphasized that neither the franchise nor Sophie Cunningham had any involvement in organizing or supporting any of those rallies. The organization appears to be trying to avoid giving the controversy any further attention. And they seem to be doing so by saying as little as possible on the topic, something Costabile viewed as unprofessional.
But White touched upon it ahead of the Portland Fire game, addressing her personal view on the issue.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know that I would say that I’m educated enough from a scientific standpoint. I don’t ever believe that exclusion is an answer.”
The Fever organization and Stephanie White have chosen to maintain such a careful approach to what has become an intensely polarizing issue. The issue had already generated public backlash and has led to several analysts commenting on the matter – not the kind of publicity the Fever would want. The official statement makes the team’s stance unquestionable.