Kelly also weighed in on the transgender athlete debate, taking a dig at WNBA player Caitlan Clark.
As the league continues to grapple with public scrutiny surrounding the currently nonexistent policies on trans athletes, Sophie Cunningham rose to the forefront of the conversation. She threw her support behind the right-wing stance to exclude transwomen from women’s sports.
Clark, her teammate, while beloved as a leader in the league, dodged the question when asked to give her opinion.
“It’s for the leagues and governing bodies to work with their athletes to find solutions,” Clark had said when asked, emphasizing a desire to focus her media time on the sport itself.
Kelly was disappointed by Clark’s refusal to speak up and called her a “coward” for bowing out of the conversation.
“She refused to do it. It is one thing to inject politics into your sport where they don’t belong, like Colin Kaepernick kneeling in the middle of professional football games,” Kelly claimed. “It’s quite another when little girls are getting … kicked out, and you are the most famous woman in women’s basketball, and you’re directly asked, as the issue rears its head in your sport, and you punt on it. You won’t say anything. You’d rather let the 12-year-olds handle it.”