Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has returned to podcasting with a new co-host after her previous partner publicly shared an opposing position to Cunningham on the topic of transgender athletes in women’s sports.
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partner → return → sports
Cunningham launched "No Hesitation" alongside prominent basketball trainer Drew Hanlen on Thursday.
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Cunningham → launch → Thursday
The program replaces "Show Me Something," the podcast she previously hosted with "Summer House" personality West Wilson.
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she → replace → Wilson
"Show Me Something" stopped releasing episodes this summer.
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Show → stop → episodes
Its social media accounts and YouTube channel have since been rebranded under the "No Hesitation" name.
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accounts → rebrande → name
Neither Cunningham, Wilson nor The Volume has publicly said the disagreement over transgender athletes caused the change or formally explained Wilson’s departure.
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disagreement → say → departure
Wilson publicly shared his opposing view on the trans athlete issue, shortly after an ESPN profile reported her belief that women’s sports should remain reserved for biological females.
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sports → share → females
Wilson called transgender participation in American sports a "borderline non-existent issue" and accused conservatives, politicians, athletes and news organizations of portraying transgender people as a disproportionate threat.
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Wilson → call → threat
Cunningham, meanwhile, stood by her position.
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Cunningham → stand → position
"I said what I said.
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I → say → what
I think it’s common sense," she told reporters in July.
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she → think → July
"I think I’ll always believe in that.
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I → think → that
It’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category.
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who → ’ → category
Cunningham has repeatedly said she does not hate transgender people and believes there is room to love everyone.
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she → say → everyone
However, she has also maintained that the rights, safety and opportunities of biological women must be protected.
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rights → maintain → women
Cunningham and Hanlen did not discuss Wilson or the transgender-athlete dispute during the debut episode of "No Hesitation."
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Cunningham → discuss → Hesitation
Instead, Cunningham introduced the new show as a place for candid basketball discussions.
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Cunningham → introduce → discussions
"I just felt like there was not a podcast or really any social media out there that gave you real, honest truth about basketball and strictly basketball," Cunningham said.
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Cunningham → feel → basketball
Hanlen acknowledged the political attention Cunningham has attracted and suggested the public often receives a distorted impression of her.
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public → acknowledge → her
"People think you’re like some troll and make statements, but really it’s 99% of the time people ask you a question, you answer, you give your opinion, and then people blow it up and act like you made a big political statement," Hanlen said.
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Hanlen → think → statement
"Stop asking me questions if you don’t want the truth," Cunningham responded.
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Cunningham → ask → truth
The conversation later turned to the way the WNBA and its players are covered.
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WNBA → turn → way
Cunningham said media attention and award voting can be driven by popularity and politics instead of on-court performance.
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attention → say → court
"I think it’s very political," Cunningham said.
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Cunningham → think → ?
"I think there’s a lot of people who are really, really great who don’t get the credit because maybe they don’t have the popularity or they don’t have the platform.
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they → think → platform
"I don’t know if there’s voting fatigue," she added.
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she → know → ?
"I just don’t know how accurate the voting is at times."
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voting → know → times
Cunningham also agreed with Hanlen’s contention that WNBA media members frequently prioritize subjects other than basketball.
"
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members → agree → basketball
I think you kind of hit it when you said the WNBA media pretty much covers everything but basketball," Cunningham said.
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Cunningham → think → basketball
She later called on WNBA reporters to emphasize the league’s players and their achievements.
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She → call → players
"Now it’s on the WNBA media to actually tell the good stories, to tell the positive stories, to actually talk about basketball and how freaking awesome our league is playing this year," Cunningham said.
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Cunningham → ’ → basketball
"History is being made this year."
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History → make → ?
Cunningham’s position echoed comments she made during the controversy over transgender participation.
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she → echo → participation
She said in August that she wanted to "get back to basketball" and argued the sport was being played at its highest level.
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sport → say → level
ESPN reported at the time that rallies and counterprotests had followed the Fever on the road after her initial comments.
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rallies → report → comments
The debut episode also featured Cunningham’s blunt assessment of Caitlin Clark’s influence on the league.
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episode → feature → league
Hanlen compared Clark’s effect on women’s basketball to the transformative impact Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods had on their sports.
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Jordan → compare → sports
Cunningham said the effect should be obvious, even if other stars also contributed to the WNBA’s growth.
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stars → say → growth
"I should not get in trouble for knowing the obvious," Cunningham said.
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Cunningham → get → obvious
"That doesn’t mean there wasn’t greatness before her."
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That → mean → her
…and 19 more, not listed.
