Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has criticized the WNBA‘s handling of Angel Reese’s physicality in the Chicago Dream’s deciding Game 3 win over the New York Liberty in the league semifinals.
Several instances stood out to Cunningham, whose offseason began two weeks ago when Indiana was eliminated from the playoffs by Las Vegas.
She took particular offense to Reese’s face-to-face confrontation with New York star Sabrina Ionescu, who was halfway down the court after a hard foul on Chicago’s Isobel Borlase when the Dream star ran over to her.
Reese did not receive a technical for the confrontation, which upset Cunningham.
‘Now, here we go,’ Cunningham said on her podcast, No Hesitation Show. ‘Angel, I appreciate her having her teammate’s back. I think that just shows that she cares and that she has love for her teammates.
‘Here’s my thing, if you’re going to chase someone down the court and get in someone’s ear, that should be a tech, any time,’ Cunningham continued. ‘It’s going to be a tech in the regular season. Any other playoff games, that’s a technical foul. You can’t do that.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has criticized the WNBA’s handling of Angel Reese’s physicality in the Chicago Dream’s deciding Game 3 win over the New York Liberty
Reese did not receive a technical for her confrontation with Ionescu, which upset Cunningham
Cunningham defended Reese’s decision to back up teammates, but said she went too far
‘Now if she were to stay on her side and kind of just yell and say something, I’m all for that. But the fact that she didn’t get a tech on that I think that is absolutely insane.’
Later, officials did reprimand Reese and New York’s Jonquel Jones for jawing with each other, but Cunningham disagreed, saying the players received ‘soft-a** double techs.’
For Cunningham, the two incidents show inconsistency of WNBA officiating.
‘I think that’s good playoff basketball. Let them talk a little s*** to each other,’ she said of the Reese-Jones spat. ‘It’s just so weird and inconsistent, of course this is what I go back to, of how the refs call it.
‘If you’re not going to call someone chasing someone down and on the court and talking s*** to them and then if someone gets a block … and Angel sticks her ground too don’t call a tech. Let them play goodhearted basketball.’
Still just 24, Reese had her best season as a pro in 2026. Not only did she earn her third All-Star nod, but the LSU product and former NCAA champion was also named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The WNBA Finals get underway between the Dream and Golden State Valkyries on Saturday at San Francisco’s Chase Center.
