Katie Nolan is firing back at WNBA star Sophie Cunningham.
The former ESPN star commented on Cunningham's thoughts on transgender athletes in women's sports this week. Cunningham, who stars for the Indiana Fever, made it clear that she wants transgender athletes out of women's sports.
Cunningham told ESPN that she wants to “protect young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” Later in the week, she doubled down on her thoughts, while speaking to WNBA reporters.
“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”
Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images.
Cunningham has received support from some and backlash from others for her comments, but she's standing by them.
The WNBA star received some criticism from Katie Nolan this week, though.
Nolan, the former ESPN star and SiriusXM Radio host, made it clear that she thinks Cunningham lacks "critical thinking."
Nolan takes shot at Cunningham's intelligence
Nolan said that the transgender athletes issue in women's sports is a very, very small one.
“One side politically is incredibly invested in this issue, and that’s because one side politically doesn’t have a lot of other issues that they’ve got pretty big approval on,” Nolan said.
“And now I am of the belief that the reason they have big approval on this is because people keep saying sentences like, ‘I don’t want little girls to have to go against biological men.’ Because on its face that sounds like something is common sense. That’s not what anybody’s asking for. Nobody is saying we should get rid of, for example, the WNBA and the NBA, and everybody should just compete together. Nobody’s saying that. And so the people that are packaging it as that are doing so on purpose. And when you are consuming it and going, ‘How could anyone disagree with this statement?’ You never consider that it’s because the statement itself does not reflect the actual issue that we’re discussing.”
Nolan believes that Cunningham lacks "critical thinking" skills.
“All you’re telling us, Sophie, is that you don’t really have critical-thinking skills, or that you aren’t interested in employing them,” Nolan said. “You’re taking the message that’s being given to you by people who are highly invested in this dividing stuff, and you’re helping them sell it by not questioning it at all. Which is extra crazy given the fact that you’re surrounded by people you could talk to about this issue to better understand it.”
