Amid tension, Cunningham says she wants to 'get back to basketball' - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said Wednesday that she wants the focus to return to basketball after her comments on transgender athletes sparked heated national debate, three rallies and social media reaction all the way to the White House.

«I'm going to let people just do the speaking for themselves, but for me, I want to get back to basketball,» Cunningham said. «It's always been about basketball. That interview happened in [March]. I just want to make sure that the focus stays where it should because people are playing at such a high level.» Addressing reporters Wednesday, a day before Indiana's game against the Las Vegas Aces, Cunningham described the attention following comments she made in a July 21 ESPN article about transgender athletes in women's sports as a «distraction.»

«There's so much good going on in the WNBA right now,» Cunningham said. «I think that basketball is being played at the highest level it's ever been.»

Indiana has won five of its past six games and leads the WNBA in points per game (96.5) and offensive rating (115.6). The Fever have scored 100 or more points in a league-record six straight games. Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark rank second and third, respectively, in points per game, just behind the Aces' A'ja Wilson.

«WNBA media, all we ever do is cover everything except basketball,» Cunningham said. «And it's like what are we doing?»

Cunningham said in the July ESPN.com feature that a political issue she felt qualified to speak on was how to «protect women's sports,» a phrase often used in support of restrictive policy and/or legislation barring transgender girls and women from girls' and women's sports.

«I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating