Caitlin Clark just won her third Eastern Conference Player of the Week honor of the 2026 season, but her lethal step-back three isn’t the only thing generating headlines.
The Indiana Fever star’s attempt to sidestep the firestorm surrounding teammate Sophie Cunningham and the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports has drawn sharp questions from a coalition of advocacy groups.
Advocacy Groups Raise Questions at Caitlin Clark’s Deference, WNBA’s Silence
While Clark wants to focus on basketball, a vocal segment of the cultural and political sphere feels she does not have that luxury.
The controversy ignited last week when Cunningham told ESPN she wanted to protect young girls from having to compete against “biological men,” and when reporters pressed Clark on the resulting circus, she kept her response diplomatic.
“I think, for us, it’s not really a discussion we really have in our locker room,” Clark told reporters.
“I think it’s for leagues and the governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions. Our focus is on basketball. That’s what we talk about and how we can get wins, and, obviously, we didn’t do that tonight. So we need to find an area to improve in that way.”
That neutral stance did not sit well with organizations demanding a harder line on the issue. Groups, including the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), weighed in on Clark refusing to take sides.
ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith told Fox News Digital that athletes should never be forced to pick a side to defend their right to equal opportunities.
Pointing to the Mountain West volleyball controversy at San Jose State University, Smith argued that the consequences of such disputes rarely stay contained.
“The resulting tension fractured relationships and divided women’s teams. That division was not created by the athletes. It was the product of institutional failure,” Smith said.
“Women’s leagues should be for women. It is the responsibility of sport leaders, not individual players, to protect the integrity of women’s competition… But when policymakers fail women, courage falls to the athletes.”
While Clark understandably wants to keep the locker room focused on securing wins, her silence seems to be carrying its own weight, given her stature in the league.
The WNBA has yet to intervene in the escalating discourse surrounding Cunningham’s comments, which leaves the Fever to navigate the noise on their own.
