Sophie Cunningham's message about girls got everyone talking… but the WNBA response has exposed something far bigger. There's only one solution: JENNIFER SEY

Imagine a WNBA team co-owner cursing at a pair of teenage fans for supporting their favorite player. She screams at them, calling the two young women 'f**king insane,' before adding that 'Jesus loves them' and 'God can save you.'

Hard to conjure, but this is the exact scenario that played out courtside during a match between the Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm at the Climate Pledge Arena on July 28. The co-owner, the Storm's Celeste Keaton, is facing an undisclosed fine and five-game suspension for her egregious actions.

But that is not enough: Keaton must publicly apologize for her behavior or be removed from women's basketball entirely.

The 16-year-olds were targeted by Keaton because they dared to publicly support Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who in an interview with ESPN on July 22 said she wanted to protect young female athletes from having to face biological males.

'Thank you, Sophie for speaking up for girls!' read signs the two fans were holding as the Fever trounced the Storm in a 105-95 win in Seattle.

Both girls were also wearing shirts by my company, XX-XY Athletics, which I founded in 2024 to protect women's sports.

At a time when political correctness compels so many young women to remain silent, Wilson and her friend stood up for their hero – and their beliefs. Which is why I am now standing alongside them.

'For Sophie to speak up for girls like me is huge,' Ahnaleigh Wilson, a track athlete from Washington and one of two girls berated by Keaton, told me. 'She has a lot to lose and she was courageous, bold and strong and she didn't back down.'

Make no mistake, Wilson and her friend did nothing wrong. They had paid for their tickets. They cheered for both teams. They were quiet, respectful and visibly giddy as they cheered Cunningham on.

But that didn't stop Keaton from attacking them so forcefully that Wilson was left in tears. If that wasn't enough, another attendee, a grown man, then harassed the women even further.

'Take the trash out,' he screamed at Arena workers in an apparent effort to have Wilson and her friend ejected after the game had finished.

For what: expressing the unremarkable view that women's sports should remain for women?

Imagine if Keaton or that man had attacked African-American fans holding protest signs during the height of the #blacklivesmatter movement. Both would likely be canceled by now.

Keaton's actions were not only out of line, but out of touch.

Some 80 percent of Americans agree with Cunningham that biological men should not compete in sports against biological women.

Keaton might believe her contrarian world view is the morally righteous one, but then why not confront Cunningham directly, rather than terrorize innocent teens who form the core of the WNBA fan base.

The good news here is that The Fever organization has distanced itself from Keaton and apologized to Wilson and her friend on the team's behalf. But Keaton has yet to personally issue an apology and until she does, accountability remains incomplete.

Keaton's fine and five-game suspension are a good start but compare this penitence to that of Robert Sarver. Back in 2022, Sarver, then-owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, was suspended for a full year and fined $10 million for racist and sexist workplace comments and conduct.

Those comments largely occurred in private, but they were still treated as a grave offense against the NBA's values. Sarver was ultimately pressured to sell both teams.

Keaton's outburst, however, could not have been more public. It was personal, vulgar and left a teenage girl crying in her seat. The punishment does not fit the crime.

Sophie Cunningham understands that. 'Truly embarrassing of the co-owner. Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is,' she wrote in an X post on Wednesday.

'I truly believe there is a safe space and love for EVERYBODY. Biological girls, biological boys, trans women, and trans men,' Cunningham added with admirable magnanimity. 'Everyone is welcome at my table! You can disagree and still be kind.'

For years the WNBA has moved in lockstep on just about every fashionable social cause imaginable. When the issue is the integrity of women's sports – the very product the league is selling – it seems the WNBA cannot find its spine.

Players who speak up are left attacked and isolated. Fans who show support are treated as enemies. And owners who berate those fans face the lightest possible consequences.

Today, that culture is finally shifting because ordinary people – like Ahnaleigh Wilson and her friend – refuse to pretend anymore. But until franchise owners like Celeste Keaton truly account for their abuses, the message to young female fans remains the same: your presence is conditional, your beliefs are the problem and don't count on the adults in charge to defend you.