Fact Check: Did Sophia Cunningham slam LeBron James over women's sports debate?

PHOENIX, ARIZONA: Amid the controversy and backlash surrounding Indiana Fever guard Sophia Cunningham over her comments against trans athletes, a rumor is circulating online claiming that an NBA player slammed Cunningham, prompting a strong reaction from the former. The claim has sparked speculation, with users demanding a fact-check.

Claim: Sophia Cunningham and LeBron James traded barbs

According to a viral post, Sophie Cunningham just called LeBron James “Mcfloppy” and told him to keep his opinions to himself for allegedly commenting on the debate surrounding women's sports and transgender athletes. 

The post also portrays Cunningham as one of the few professional athletes willing to challenge prominent male athletes on the issue, praises her for speaking "without fear," and speculates that LeBron will eventually respond. 

The claim has spread on X and Facebook, collectively garnering hundreds of thousands of views as of this writing. 

The comments under the post appear to praise Cunningham for her stance and slam James, indicating that many believe the claim to be true.

Fact Check: No credible evidence to support the claim

However, there are no records of James reacting against the Women’s NBA player’s controversial comment against trans athletes; hence, the alleged remark by Cunningham is also false.

The post also does not mention what exactly James said. A search on Google for the claim yielded no relevant results, which, if true, will not go unreported given the debates and backlash against Cunningham’s comment.

Additionally, the account that posted the claim is also not credible and has posted similar fake and unverified claims.

A fact check by Grok stated, “The claim that Sophie Cunningham called LeBron James “McFloppy” and told him to keep his opinions to himself is false."

"The quote and related details originated from satirical social media posts (including Facebook pages that explicitly label their content as not real) and have been repeatedly fact-checked as fabricated.”

Sophia Cunningham defends women's sports stance

Sophia Cunningham sparked a controversy after she spoke on the issue of transgender participation in women's sports in an article on ESPN.

"I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that.' … I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And 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. 

"I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense. … I think I'll always believe in that. I think it's really important to protect children, and that's little girls, who are involved in that category,"  she said.