Story by
Ex-Fever star tells white WNBA players to ‘shut the f–k up’ on trans athlete issues
- Story by
- Ex-Fever star tells white WNBA players to ‘shut the f–k up’ on trans athlete issues
cunningham colson
Former Fever guard Sydney Colson addressed the importance of solidarity among WNBA players, including how teammates respond to various issues confronting the league in 2026.
Colson made some notable remarks during her most recent episode of "Unsupervised with Syd & TP," a podcast she hosts alongside fellow former WNBA player Theresa Plaisance.
Advertisement
While Colson did not mention Indiana's Sophie Cunningham by name, the discussion touched on an issue her former Fever teammate previously addressed .
"For the white players in the league, when you don't say s–t, and even worse, when you say things that are harmful, talking about the trans s–t, nobody respects you," Colson said. "Shut the f–k up. Shut the f–k up. Nobody wants to hear your opinion. Freedom of speech, so you can say it, but just know people are trying to get by when they're dealing with you."
Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham were teammates on the Indiana Fever in 2025. NBAE via Getty Images
Colson's broader comments focused on the responsibility players have to support teammates, particularly when dealing with issues of discrimination, which have dominated online discussions about the league for the past few years.
Advertisement
"Listen, if you never speak up about a damn thing when you know it's impacting the people you claim to love and care about," Colson said, "you ought to be ashamed to act like you're cool with people, to act like you care about sisterhood, all of these things."
(L-R) Theresa Plaisance and Sydney Colson attend Run-A-Muck Hosts The Afters at Lazy Bird Lounge on July 23, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images for REIGN's WNBA AS
Cunningham, who played alongside Colson in Indiana during the 2025 season, previously shared her position on transgender participation in women's sports during a July interview with ESPN.
"I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men," Cunningham said at the time.
Advertisement
Colson also addressed comments made by Fever general manager Amber Cox, who defended the team's polarizing fan base , which has faced allegations of racism from players and fans, during an end-of-season press conference Saturday.
"The attacks on our fanbase have no basis in reality, and they need to stop," Cox said.
Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark and Sydney Colson of the Indiana Fever smile during Good Morning America as part of AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025 on July 18, 2025 at Bicentennial Unity Plaza in Indianapolis, Indiana. NBAE via Getty Images
Colson disagreed with that assessment, highlighting concerns raised by players about their experiences with fans in Indiana.
"But what I painted for you was an environment of a culture that's continuing and not being addressed," Colson said. "And people are being told that things are not 'based in reality,' even though players are documented and on record saying what they've experienced. So now, it's a slap in the face to black players who are in the organization right now, who have been in it, who are possibly going to have to be in it."
Advertisement
Colson also clarified on multiple occasions that she was not accusing every Fever fan of discriminatory behavior, but questioned whether the organization was doing enough to address incidents involving its fans.
"We didn't say that these individual people are racist, but this environment is not discouraging people from showing up and being hateful, racist, homophobic, sexist, any of those things," she continued. "It's a problem, and it's not new."
Colson tore her ACL last August and was not rostered this season.
