Indiana Fever stars Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham have been in the national news lately for several different reasons.
The former is a polarizing figure whose every action and comment gets politicized, while the latter has seemingly become the face of the transgender-athletes-in-women’s-sports debate.
That debate goes beyond the WNBA and into the political realm, where Cunningham and Clark continue to be brought up by talking heads.
Political Commentator Megyn Kelly Takes a Shot at Caitlin Clark
Clark was asked about the transgender-athlete debate in light of Cunningham’s comments, and longtime political talking head Megyn Kelly wasn’t pleased with her answer.
While speaking to the media after the Fever’s 108-100 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday, Clark was asked about transgender athletes taking part in women’s sports. This comes after an ESPN interview in which Cunningham said she wants to “protect young girls in a locker room” and that “biological men” shouldn’t take part in women’s sports.
Clark quickly shut down the question.
“I think for us, it’s not really a discussion that we have in our locker room,” Clark said. “I think it’s for the leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions. But our focus is on basketball, and that’s what we talk about and how we can get wins, and obviously, we didn’t do that tonight, so you need to find an area to improve in that way.”
Clark shot down a follow-up. In response to the Fever superstar’s answer, Kelly commented with a simple, but strong message: “Coward.”
Coward. https://t.co/4ietxcRCj5
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) August 3, 2026
Kelly joins other political commentators, such as Clay Travis, who are going all-in on this polarizing political debate. Calling Clark a “coward” shows where Kelly stands on this situation.
Soon after, Barstool Sports founder and Clark superfan Dave Portnoy chimed in, calling out Kelly’s one-word tweet.
“Absolute moron/idiot to call Caitlin a coward for this answer,” Portnoy wrote. “1st of all you don’t even know how she feels on this issue and more importantly she doesn’t owe it to you or anybody else to be your political talking point. She just wants to play ball. Total coward cheap shot to call her a coward for not being your puppet.”
Absolute moron/idiot to call Caitlin a coward for this answer. 1st of all you don’t even know how she feels on this issue and more importantly she doesn’t owe it to you or anybody else to be your political talking point. She just wants to play ball. Total coward cheap shot… https://t.co/2jQhHizK8Q
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 3, 2026
This is a delicate situation, and one that is entirely new for plenty of WNBA players who are now expected to have a public take on a serious political issue. Clark took the strategy of declining to answer, which is arguably fair given the question was asked after a game.
This also comes at a time when Clark continues to be asked about her place in the WNBA and battles various narratives, with the topic of race and politics brought up time and time again. She seems to truly want to focus on basketball.
Modern society demands that athletes and public figures have an opinion on seemingly every matter of discussion. That doesn’t mean those individuals have to share their opinion, even if people like Kelly goad them into doing so.
Clark remains in a unique spot. She is one of the top stars in the WNBA and a player who has taken the league to new heights. Yet she is constantly criticized and called out by those within sports and national media, and her mere existence tends to be politicized.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently summed it up best: “She’s become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think that’s incredibly unfair to her.”
