Sophie Cunningham Hit With Third Fine Over WNBA Officiating Comments
The Fever guard said the WNBA fined her for a third time after claiming Paige Bueckers drew “every whistle" against Indiana.
Stop me if you've heard this one before: the WNBA has fined Sophie Cuningham for publicly criticizing the league's officiating.
The Indiana Fever guard revealed on Tuesday's episode of her Show Me Something podcast that she has received a third fine from the WNBA after she suggested that Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers receives special treatment from refs.
"I’m officially 3-for-3 on being fined by the WNBA," Cunningham said. "They didn’t like my comments on Paige Bueckers."
The comments came during last week's episode, right after Bueckers and the Wings beat the Fever in Indiana.
"I love Paige to death, don't get me wrong," Cunningham said. "I think she's a hell of a player and would love to play with her one day, but those refs were giving her every freaking whistle last night. You literally couldn't touch her, couldn't touch her. That sh*t is so annoying to me. And if you're going to do that, then give it to our guards. I just hate the inconsistency."
Cunningham was already fined $500 last month over a TikTok video making fun of WNBA referees. Then, just a couple of weeks later, she was hit with a $1,500 fine for criticizing officials on the debut episode of her podcast.
The six-year vet is officially out for the remainder of the season after suffering a right knee MCL tear during the Fever's overtime win against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. Cunningham was hurt during the second quarter when Sun guard Bria Hartley fell into the side of her leg underneath the Connecticut basket.
And even though Cunningham had nothing nice to say about WNBA officials, she had only kind words for Hartley.
"There was no ill intent, I think it was a basketball play," Cunningham said. "I was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time (and) she fell. There’s no way that she would go in there and potentially try to hurt me. I have nothing but love for Bria … and so I hope people stop giving Bria some heat because I don’t think she meant to do that at all."
Cunningham is the third Fever guard to suffer a season-ending injury in the past 10 days, joining a list that includes both Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald, who both got hurt on July 30 in Phoenix. Caitlin Clark has been out since July 15 with a right groin injury.
The Fever return to action on Friday against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx.