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Ex-Fever star tells white WNBA players to ‘shut the f–k up’ on trans athlete issues

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Cite

Fonseca, B. (2026, October 10). Ex-Fever star tells white WNBA players to ‘shut the f–k up’ on trans athlete issues. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/09/sports/sydney-colson-calls-out-white-players-over-wnba-trans-issues/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-10 · by Bryan Fonseca

Quick Summary

Sydney Colson, a former Indiana Fever player, urged white WNBA players to remain silent on transgender athlete issues during an episode of her podcast "Unsupervised with Syd & TP." Colson criticized players who express harmful opinions about trans athletes, telling them to “shut the f–k up” and emphasizing that such views are not respected. Her comments came in response to a July ESPN interview where Fever player Sophie Cunningham expressed concerns over biological males participating in women’s sports. Colson also addressed recent statements by Indiana’s general manager Amber Cox defending the team's fan base, which has been accused of racism, suggesting that players' experiences with discrimination are being dismissed as unfounded.
Written by AI on 2026-10-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Sydney Colson, a former WNBA player who played for the Indiana Fever, criticized white players on her podcast "Unsupervised with Syd & TP" in late 2023. She urged white colleagues to "shut the f--- up" if they remain silent or express harmful views regarding transgender athletes competing in women's sports. Colson specifically targeted former teammate Sophie Cunningham, who has spoken out on these issues, suggesting that such silence and negativity from players undermines solidarity within the league. The comments reflect broader tensions within the WNBA about inclusivity and player responsibilities toward team cohesion amid debates over biological sex classifications in competitive sports.

Written for “Sydney Colson Controversy” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Sydney Colson Controversy
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 10% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 3 of 31 claims Outlet record 69/100
Fox News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 6 of 46 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different incidents involving Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson, not the same specific occurrence.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different incidents: one is about Sydney Colson's podcast remarks and the other is Sophie Cunningham responding to a column criticizing her.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
10%
2 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15511 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Bryan Fonseca
26 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Bryan Fonseca
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Bryan Fonseca →

Topics

ESPN Fever Indiana WNBA

Subjects

Colson PERSON · 11× Fever ORG · 4× Indiana GPE · 3× Cunningham PERSON · 2× WNBA ORG · 2× Amber Cox PERSON · 1× ESPN ORG · 1× Sophie Cunningham PERSON · 1× Sydney Colson PERSON · 1× Theresa Plaisance PERSON · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-10

Claims (20 extracted, 2 hedged)

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. asserted
teammates → address → 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. asserted
she → make → Plaisance
While Colson did not mention Indiana’s Sophie Cunningham by name, the discussion touched on an issue her former Fever teammate previously addressed. asserted
teammate → mention → issue
“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. asserted
Colson → say → you
Nobody wants to hear your opinion. asserted
Nobody → want → opinion
Freedom of speech, so you can say it, but just know people are trying to get by when they’re dealing with you.” asserted
they → say → you
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. asserted
which → focus → years
“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.” uncertain
you → listen → things
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. asserted
who → play → 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. asserted
Cunningham → want → time
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. asserted
which → address → conference
“The attacks on our fanbase have no basis in reality, and they need to stop,” Cox said. asserted
Cox → have → reality
Colson disagreed with that assessment, highlighting concerns raised by players about their experiences with fans in Indiana. asserted
Colson → disagree → Indiana
“But what I painted for you was an environment of a culture that’s continuing and not being addressed,” Colson said. asserted
Colson → paint → culture
“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. asserted
they → tell → what
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. uncertain
who → ’ → it
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. asserted
organization → clarify → 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. asserted
she → say → things
“It’s a problem, and it’s not new.” asserted
it → ’ → ?
Colson tore her ACL last August and was not rostered this season. asserted
Colson → tear → ACL
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