Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has slammed the WNBA after revealing she was fined $500 for criticizing referees.
The guard, who has been christened Caitlin Clark‘s ‘enforcer’ this season, recently released a TikTok in which she called out ‘some refs’ in the league.
Clark is among the other stars to have clashed with officials but Cunningham has now been punished over her comments.
In the viral video, she wrote ‘@ some refs’ while mouthing a line from Sabrina Carpenter’s hit, ‘Manchild.’ The lyrics she lip-synced were: ‘Stupid. Or is it slow? Maybe, it’s useless’
On Wednesday, Cunningham took to social media once more to reveal her punishment and mock the WNBA.
‘I got fined $500 for this TikTok,’ Cunningham wrote on X alongside several laughing emojis.
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has been fined $500 for criticizing WNBA referees
‘Idk (I don’t know) why this is funny to me…like ok (thumb emoji) you got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now.’
She then reposted a reply that read: ‘The endless WNBA war on the people who are bringing attention to their product while protecting the behavior that turns people off NEVER ceases to amazed me.’
The Fever star did not specify what she meant by ‘more important things.’ But her comments come amid tension between the WNBA and its players over a new collective bargaining agreement.
At least week’s All-Star Game, Clark and many of her WNBA rivals staged a protest. They wore t-shirts which read: ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’
Cunningham previously made headlines after criticizing the WNBA’s expansion plans. Earlier this season, the league announced plans to add teams in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030).
‘You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans?’ Cunningham said.
‘I do think that Miami would have been a great (location). Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity.’
She continued: ‘I’m not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast.
‘I think that that’s also another thing. It’s kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).’
