Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is being vocal again, this time blasting the media for focusing on non-basketball issues. It’s her fault, though, because she’s the problem. She has no one to blame but herself.
The media had already been drawn to the Fever with guard Caitlin Clark’s supposed rivalry against Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese and the countdown to when Clark will get her eighth technical foul. Cunningham, though, is the gasoline that’s making the fire burn longer.
WNBA Media Circus Revolves Around Sophie Cunningham
Cunningham’s demands for basketball-only coverage completely ignore her on-court antics. A perfect example of this is her infamous June 22 showdown against the Phoenix Mercury, where she transformed a routine whistle into a viral meme. After Phoenix forward DeWanna Bonner became entangled in a heated verbal exchange with Clark, Cunningham jumped right in.
The former Missouri Tiger acted like a toddler by intentionally pointing directly at Bonner for 22 seconds. It was a gesture designed to antagonize Bonner, but it blew up on social media and took media attention away from Cunningham’s embarrassing two points in 26 minutes of play.
If Cunningham truly desired basketball media coverage, she should spend more time in the gym practicing. Instead, she made a surprise appearance at UFC 329 as a ring girl, which was a blatant play for mainstream celebrity.
How does Cunningham expect to just waltz up to UFC president Dana White and offer him her service to be a ring girl without media coverage? It would’ve been common sense for her to know that the media would see her, especially with two famous fighters competing in the main event.
The peak of her non-basketball media circus comes after her public comments regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports. Expressing a desire to protect young girls in a locker room, Cunningham explicitly stated that female athletes should not have to compete against biological men.
Cunningham could’ve, and should’ve, just let that be the end, but she doubled down on her stance by claiming it was her truth. The media coverage quickly expanded with rallies and counter-protests erupting outside stadiums, and Cunningham being booed. She has no right to complain about the media covering non-basketball issues, especially when she comments on a hotly debated political issue.
Other WNBA Figures Are Part Of The Act
To be fair, it is not always Cunningham causing the media to focus on non-basketball issues. Reese sparked backlash when she claimed that she didn’t have many dolls that looked like her. Critics quickly pointed out the blatant dishonesty of the statement, noting that Black Barbies have been widely available for over fifty years, long before Reese was born in 2002.
Meanwhile, Celeste Keaton, Seattle Storm co-owner, is also partially at fault for lacking professionalism. During a game against the Fever, she was fined and handed a five-game suspension by the WNBA after a hostile court-side confrontation with two teenage fans. Keaton reportedly screamed, cursed, and called the young girls insane simply because they were wearing shirts depicting chromosomes and holding signs supporting Cunningham’s stance on women’s sports.
Cunningham cannot demand that the media talk about basketball while repeatedly giving them reasons to do the exact opposite. From on-court theatrics to off-court appearances and polarizing public statements, she’s a gold mine for the media. Until she stops giving the media reasons to cover her non-basketball stuff, Cunningham can’t complain about it.
