The Indiana Fever's latest win arrived alongside fresh turmoil in the WNBA's ongoing debate over women's sports, as star guard Caitlin Clark was kept from reporters despite recording the fourth triple-double of her career Friday night.
Clark's teammates who did address the media after the game ended the press conference early when a reporter asked about Sophie Cunningham's position on protecting women's sports. The Fever defeated the Portland Fire at Moda Center for their fifth consecutive victory, but the wider controversy overshadowed the result.
Before tip-off, Fever head coach Stephanie White's answers to questions about biological males competing in women's sports went viral. White said she does not consider herself educated enough from a scientific standpoint to weigh in, and added that she does not believe exclusion is the answer.
Asked whether she would welcome a biological male in the WNBA, White did not rule it out, describing it as a totally different scenario and saying she lacks enough knowledge about transgender and transitioning issues to give what she called a smart answer. She left a follow-up question about whether she would accept a transgender athlete in the locker room unanswered.
White acknowledged that the debate has caused frustration inside her team. «There is frustration, of course, because we want to talk about basketball,» she said, while describing the issue as «part of our growth edge as a league.» She said the Fever must manage the surrounding noise and lead with conversation.
Friday marked the second consecutive game with a rally outside the arena in support of Cunningham. The Fever guard said she has had nothing to do with the demonstrations, credited fans for exercising their freedom of speech, and said the controversy does not cross her mind or her teammates' minds. «I'm here to play basketball,» she said, adding that she has no intention of dimming her light because some people disagree with her.
Clark was not made available to reporters for the second straight game. The Fever did not respond to a request for comment about her absence.
An OutKick reporter was cut off while attempting to ask Aliyah Boston and Makayla Timpson about Cunningham's stance, and the remainder of the press conference was abruptly ended. The exchange was also removed from the video of the news conference posted on YouTube. Boston, answering a general question about the team's heightened attention, said there will always be outside noise and that the players keep the main thing the main thing.
White's remarks drew sharp criticism on social media from supporters of protecting women's sports, while others took issue with the questioning itself. Some critics compared her answers to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's refusal to define the word «woman» during her 2022 confirmation hearings.
Portland Fire head coach Alex Sarama faced the same question during pre-game availability and also declined to take a firm position, saying his focus is on coaching basketball and that he supports people from all communities.
Dozens of Cunningham supporters gathered outside the Moda Center as the debate continued to follow the league from city to city.
