Sophie Cunningham speaks out to protect girls as WNBA All-Star initiative backs ‘gender-expansive’ group

Dan Dakich reacts to Sophie Cunningham doubling down on her stance to protect girls in sports.

Indiana Fever guard and rising WNBA superstar Sophie Cunningham says protecting young girls in sports is "common sense."

At the same time, the WNBA is using its All-Star Game to give at least $30,000, and potentially $70,000, to an organization that says it is "moving beyond the binary of ‘girl.’"

That puts one of the league’s most popular players in direct tension with an All-Star initiative being promoted by the WNBA.

SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM DOUBLES DOWN AHEAD OF SUN GAME AFTER ESPN PROFILE STIRS CONTROVERSY: 'I SAID WHAT I SAID'

"I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense," Cunningham told reporters on Wednesday. "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."

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham says protecting young girls in sports is "common sense." (David Butler II/Imagn Images)

Her comments followed an ESPN profile in which Cunningham addressed the backlash she has received over her position on trans-identifying biological male athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I’m like, ‘I never once said that,’" Cunningham told ESPN. "I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men."

The Indiana Fever responded by emphasizing that its players are entitled to express their own views.

"Our players are thoughtful adults with their own perspectives and voices, and those views are their own," a statement