Sophie Cunningham on conversation with Cheryl Reeve
Fever’s Sophie Cunningham shares what was discussed between her and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve during their pre-game.
Sports Seriously
The Indiana Fever have denied a sexual harassment allegation raised by Brianna Turner, who played for the team last season.
“We want to set the record straight,” the Fever said in a Wednesday, Aug. 5 statement. “There was no allegation of sexual harassment, no players were directly involved, and we never sought to silence them. As we previously stated, protecting our players and employees and maintaining a respectful, professional workplace is our top priority. Our policy is to take concerns seriously, investigate thoroughly, and act promptly when appropriate to protect the people in our organization and ensure everyone is treated with professionalism and respect. Fostering trust and safety in that process also means we do not comment on personnel matters involving former employees.”
On July 22, Turner alleged the WNBA team fired a male employee for sexual harassment last season and encouraged players to “keep quiet” about it. The now-Las Vegas Aces forward made the allegation on social media platform X as part of a series of posts defending transgender people. Earlier that day, Sophie Cunningham, Turner’s former Fever teammate, was quoted in an ESPN article saying she supported transgender people but did not believe trans women should be able to play women’s sports. Turner responded by making an argument that there are bigger threats to women.
“An issue that has caused problems though? Last year on my WNBA team, a male staff member was fired for sexual harassment, but we were encouraged to keep quiet about it. That is an issue. Sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and racism are all issues,” Turner said.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY on July 23, the Fever said, “Protecting our players and employees and maintaining a respectful, professional workplace is our top priority. Our policy is to take concerns seriously, investigate thoroughly, and act promptly when appropriate to protect the people in our organization and ensure everyone is treated with professionalism and respect. Fostering trust and safety in that process means we do not comment on personnel matters involving former employees.”
The latest statement from the Fever organization comes after Turner, who is in Indiana for an Aces-Fever matchup on Thursday, Aug. 6 (7 p.m. ET, Prime Video), declined to provide further context around the allegation she made on social media.
“No comment,” she said when asked about it. Turner gave the same response to a follow-up question asking if anyone specific from the Fever asked the players not to say anything.