PBS Loves Liberal WNBA Culture Warriors, But Bashes Cunningham

Alex Christy
October 6th, 2026 1:40 PM

Text to Speech

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On Monday’s episode of Amanpour and Company on PBS, Michel Martin welcomed author Tamryn Spruill to the show to promote her new book on the 30-year history of the WNBA. Towards the end of their discussion, the duo would praise WNBA players for suiting up for the Blue Team in the culture war, but when it came to Sophie Cunningham’s decision to defend the competitive integrity of women’s sports, they attacked.

Rewinding a few years, Martin hyped the Atlanta Dream’s decision to campaign against their GOP team owner, “So, talk about taking a stand. The 2020 season stands out. Because after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the Atlanta Dream players publicly opposed their own co-owner, then Senator, United States Senator Kelly Loeffler, after she criticized the league's support for Black Lives Matter. So, what is it about that episode that stands out?”

 

 

Spruill hyped that “Well, first of all, the success of their activism was very much a result of the moment when society was at another reckoning point over race and police violence. I think it was Sue Bird who made the suggestion that we can help force her out by campaigning for her rival in the Senate race. So, she was up for re-election.”

She also promoted “players like Elizabeth Williams, who was a big part of the players’ union, she wanted to sit down with Raphael Warnock and to see if his values aligned with theirs before they're going to throw their support. And he met with them, and the attention they gave his campaign just transformed his campaign. It just shows the power that this league has to force progress when people really work together.”

Spruill also observed how “We can see how now we have a backlash to that. And I feel like in the 30th season, a lot of the storylines that are coming up are resulting specifically from that power that was exerted. And then now you're visible, we're going to attack you, you know.”

Martin then turned to the other side of the culture wars. While BLM has nothing to do with basketball, knowing what the W in WNBA stands for and means seems important, but Martin didn’t see it that way, “One of the other things that's happened this season is that there seems to be this debate about whether trans women should or should not play in the WNBA. To my knowledge, there are not any trans women or self-identified trans women currently in the WNBA. But the fact is, this is a thing that has emerged. What do you think it's about?”

Suddenly, Spruill also was against culture warring, “I think it's about attacking a league that has been socially progressive, and now includes players who maybe don't have those same views and values. Sophie Cunningham of Indiana Fever, who kind of said something about wanting to protect the locker rooms from biological males, which is a very dog whistle for anti-trans beliefs. And it's not any current issue that I know of on any team of any player.”

Martin then chimed in to ask a clarifying question, “Was she talking about in the WNBA, in the W, the professional league? Or was she making a general statement about girls' sports at the lower levels?”

 

 

Spruill answered, “All of sports and at the lower levels. And it's—you know, there's a movement banning trans kids from playing on various teams. It's happening all over the country. And it's really, her statement was kind of aligned with that movement and what those values and agendas are. And, you know, it's kind of hijacking a beautiful season, 30th celebratory season, to interject these issues that are not even relevant right now.”

She concluded by declaring, “This is the first time there's been a player who's outspoken about issues kind of on the opposite side of, for example, where the league was in 2020, which is all about equality and justice. So, these are the kinds of internal challenges I feel the league needs to work out.”

Earlier in the interview, Spruill argued that the WNBA has struggled to market itself in the past and chalked that up to racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ sentiments, thereby unintentionally making it clear why the WNBA struggles to be taken seriously. It wants to wage a culture war on behalf of highly controversial liberal ideas, but when it comes to the one culture war topic that directly affects it, it basically tells Cunningham to shut up and dribble.

Here is a transcript for the October 5 show:

PBS Amanpour and Company

10/5/2026

MICHEL MARTIN: So, talk about taking a stand. The 2020 season stands out. Because after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the Atlanta Dream players publicly opposed their own co-owner, then Senator, United States Senator Kelly Loeffler, after she criticized the league's support for Black Lives Matter. So, what is it about that episode that stands out?

TAMRYN SPRUILL: Well, first of all, the success of their activism was very much a result of the moment when society was at another reckoning point over race and police violence. I think it was Sue Bird who made the suggestion that we can help force her out by campaigning for her rival in the Senate race. So, she was up for re-election.

And the players like Elizabeth Williams, who was a big part of the players’ union, she wanted to sit down with Raphael Warnock and to see if his values aligned with theirs before they're going to throw their support. And he met with them, and the attention they gave his campaign just transformed his campaign. It just shows the power that this league has to force progress when people really work together.

But we can see how now we have a backlash to that. And I feel like in the 30th season, a lot of the storylines that are coming up are resulting specifically from that power that was exerted. And then now you're visible, we're going to attack you, you know.

MARTIN: One of the other things that's happened this season is that there seems to be this debate about whether trans women should or should not play in the WNBA. To my knowledge, there are not any trans women or self-identified trans women currently in the WNBA. But the fact is, this is a thing that has emerged. What do you think it's about?

SPRUILL: I think it's about attacking a league that has been socially progressive, and now includes players who maybe don't have those same views and values. Sophie Cunningham of Indiana Fever, who kind of said something about wanting to protect the locker rooms from biological males, which is a very dog whistle for anti-trans beliefs. And it's not any current issue that I know of on any team of any player.

MARTIN: Was she talking about in the WNBA, in the W, the professional league? Or was she making a general statement about girls' sports at the lower levels?

SPRUILL: All of sports and at the lower levels. And it's—you know, there's a movement banning trans kids from playing on various teams. It's happening all over the country. And it's really, her statement was kind of aligned with that movement and what those values and agendas are. And, you know, it's kind of hijacking a beautiful season, 30th celebratory season, to interject these issues that are not even relevant right now.

There's been one trans player in the league, Layshia Clarendon, who came out first as non-binary and then trans and towards the end of their career, had underwent surgery and is, you know, living a great life and doing activism to this day. But it hasn't even been a topic in the league that I am aware of.

But this is the first time there's been a player who's outspoken about issues kind of on the opposite side of, for example, where the league was in 2020, which is all about equality and justice. So, these are the kinds of internal challenges I feel the league needs to work out.

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