Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase Shares Eye-opening Take On Sophie Cunningham Situation

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SAN FRANCISCO – With the Sophie Cunningham transgender athlete debate engulfing the WNBA in a political culture war, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase weighed in on the contentious topic, expressing her support for trans women in sports and her commitment to inclusion.

“For me, sports is about belonging. It’s about inclusivity. It’s about allowing everyone to be their authentic self,” Nakase said when asked for her opinion on the protests, debates, and politicking going on in and around the WNBA, sparked by Cunningham’s comments in an ESPN article in which the Indiana Fever guard said she supports restricting transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports. 

“I’m big on that just because I have been criticized for my height, for my ethnicity. I’ve been in those: ‘You shouldn’t belong here’ [conversations] many times. And for me, I don’t want that space, especially Golden State, to ever feel like that. So I’m all about women, little girls deserving to play, and that includes trans women. So I’m all about inclusivity.”

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Nakase’s support for the LGBTQ+ community is well documented. Earlier this season, on the Valkyries’ Pride Night, the second-year head coach emphasized the importance, expressing her and the Golden State organization’s commitment to hosting and uplifting the Bay Area LGBTQ+ community. Additionally, Golden State has historically been comfortable with its players and coaches expressing their political views, with Warriors coach Steve Kerr having been at the forefront of a number of contentious political topics.

But Nakase’s also come at a tense time for the WNBA.

With protestors gathering in support of Cunningham and her stance on transgender participation and rallying outside of Fever games during their road trip, and counterprotesters on the opposite side of the issue following in kind, the topic has become a hot-button issue not only within the WNBA but the country at large.

Officials in President Donald Trump’s administration have amplified Cunningham’s comments, with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saying Trump is “following the story.”

“As you know, this is something the president feels strongly about as well, and the American people do, too: that men should not be playing in women’s sports,” Leavitt said in a White House briefing. “We want to protect women and girls… And the backlash she is receiving from Democrats and left-wing figures across the country is astonishing.”

Support for trans athletes from within the WNBA

But within the WNBA world, Nakase does not stand alone in her support of transgender athletes. Fever coach Stephanie White said earlier this week she doesn’t believe exclusion is ever the answer, calling for more conversations regarding the issue, while Portland Fire coach Alex Sarama expressed that the transgender community has their organization’s full support.

But at the forefront of the issue has been Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who this past week stated: “We need to protect trans kids,” and that the attacks on the community are a “human rights issue,” with every child having a “right to sports.”

“I come from a space of inclusion,” Reeve told reporters Saturday. “The narrative that I think is problematic is to suggest that transgender athletes are the biggest problem in women’s sports. This is what’s bothersome. There is a faction of people in our country that are making this a massive issue… ”

On the same day Nakase expressed her comments, with Minnesota hosting Cunningham and the Fever, Reeve wore a light blue shirt under her jacket that said “Trans kids belong,” as she coached the Lynx to a 108-100 win.

Regardless, the current culture war and debate in the WNBA surrounding transgender athletes is serving as a battleground for larger American politics.

Since 2020, twenty-seven states have passed legislation barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s school and collegiate sports, with the Supreme Court upholding those state laws on June 30th of this year.

And in 2025, the NCAA enacted a policy that bars transgender women from women’s competition. The International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have also banned transgender women from the women’s category.

As for the WNBA’s rules surrounding the issue, the 2026 collective bargaining agreement signed in March states that “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” a wording that lacks further definition of how they classify a woman or any clarity regarding their policy governing transgender or intersex athlete eligibility.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has yet to address this ongoing firestorm stemming from this issue.

“That’s where I say common-sense people get together and you find common ground,” Reeve said on Saturday. “To find a way to be inclusive. The answer isn’t ‘no.'”

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