Cheryl Reeve sends clear message to Sophie Cunningham with ‘Trans Kids Belong’ shirt during Fever-Lynx game

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve made her position clear Sunday afternoon.

Reeve wore a shirt reading “Trans Kids Belong” underneath her blazer while coaching against Sophie Cunningham’s Indiana Fever at Target Center. There’s no reason to pretend the timing was coincidental.

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Reeve had already addressed the transgender-athlete debate before the game, saying she comes from “a space of inclusion,” that “we need to protect trans kids” and that “every kid has a right to sports.” Her comments came with another rally supporting Cunningham’s position taking place outside the arena before the Fever-Lynx matchup. Then, Reeve carried the message onto the sideline.

Of course, she has every right to wear the shirt. The Lynx have every right to support her. But it was also an unmistakable response to Cunningham, who has spent the past two weeks taking heavy criticism for saying girls and women shouldn’t have to compete against biological men or share locker rooms with them.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ shirt as the Lynx faced Sophie Cunningham’s Fever, adding new fuel to the WNBA’s trans-athlete debate. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)

Why anyone feels the need to argue against Cunningham’s common-sense take is another matter. But it’s also important to note that Cunningham never said transgender kids don’t belong in sports, society or anywhere else. In fact, she said she had “never once” expressed hatred toward transgender people and argued that there is room for everyone. Her position was more specific: “I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

Reeve’s shirt collapsed that distinction into a progressive slogan.

By wearing “Trans Kids Belong” while coaching against Cunningham, Reeve implied that Cunningham’s position is about excluding transgender children entirely. It isn’t. Cunningham drew a line at participation in girls’ and women’s sports and access to female locker rooms.

That position is not only reasonable, but the position the majority of Americans hold.

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To Reeve’s credit, she acknowledged before the game that the issue becomes more complicated after puberty and when Olympic spots or scholarships are involved. She argued that people should find common ground rather than make exclusion the answer. That is a more nuanced argument than the shirt conveyed.

Still, Cunningham didn’t say trans kids don’t belong. So, Reeve answered the argument she wanted Cunningham to make rather than the one Cunningham actually made.

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a ‘Trans Kids Belong’ shirt while coaching against Sophie Cunningham and the Indiana Fever during a marquee WNBA matchup. (Getty Images)

That would have been an obvious subject to ask Reeve about after the game. Fox News Digital and OutKick tried to be there to ask those questions, but the Lynx denied our credential request.

The request was submitted July 30 for an Aug. 2 game. The Lynx’s stated deadline was 5 p.m. on Aug. 1, meaning the application arrived more than two days before the game and well before the deadline. The denial didn’t cite timing, capacity or any other specific reason.

After I posted about the denial on social media, several WNBA reporters and fans celebrated it. Some argued that local beat writers should receive priority. Others suggested that outlets should only receive access if their reporters regularly attend practices and ask questions about basketball.

The first point is reasonable. Local reporters who cover a team every day should be prioritized.

But “prioritized” and “exclusively credentialed” aren’t the same thing. Fox News Digital and OutKick regularly cover the WNBA, and I was credentialed for both the 2026 NBA Finals and the 2026 Final Four despite not working as a full-time beat reporter for the NBA or college basketball.

So, are regular-season WNBA games really a more exclusive media credential than the NBA Finals or Final Four?

More importantly, the “stick to basketball” defense completely fell apart the moment Reeve walked onto the sideline wearing that shirt. If reporters are only supposed to ask about basketball, why is the head coach using a WNBA game to make a statement about one of the country’s most contentious social debates?

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Reeve didn’t wear a shirt about transition defense. She didn’t promote rebounding or ball movement. She used the sideline to send a message about transgender children while coaching against the player at the center of the league’s transgender-athlete controversy.

Again, that’s her right. But once she makes the statement during the game, questions about that statement become relevant to the game.

The Lynx were asked whether Reeve’s shirt was intended as a response to Cunningham’s comments and whether the organization approved or coordinated the decision and endorsed the message. The team didn’t respond before publication.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve looks on in the third quarter of their game against the Las Vegas Aces at Michelob Ultra Arena on Aug. 2, 2025. (Candice Ward/ Imagn Images)

Perhaps Reeve would have said the shirt had nothing to do with Cunningham. That would be difficult to believe given the opponent, her comments before the game and the controversy surrounding the Fever’s road trip, but she deserved the opportunity to explain it.

We also deserved the opportunity to ask.

Instead, WNBA defenders celebrated a credential denial while insisting reporters should focus on basketball, then watched a head coach turn the sideline into a platform for a social message. The league and its teams routinely promote inclusion, open dialogue and the importance of athletes and coaches using their platforms. Those principles seem to become much less important when the questions might challenge the preferred position.

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Reeve was free to wear the shirt. The Lynx were free to deny the credential. And WNBA reporters were free to cheer that decision.

But taken together, the message was clear: approved social statements belong on the sideline.

Uncomfortable questions don’t.