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Indiana Fever -Star Sophie Cunningham threw a jab on WNBA and its judges on Saturday.
While talking to journalists about her fiery and physical defense of teammate Caitlin Clark on Tuesday against Connecticut Sun players, Cunningham called the League to “not protect” Clark during Fenomen’s young WNBA career.
Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham (8) and Connecticut Sun Guard Jacy Sheldon (4) go into battle in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis 17 June 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imag images)
Cunningham became a viral sensation over the past week after making a fierce mistake on the Sun Guard Jacy Sheldon, who stabbed Clark in his eye earlier in the game. A fight between the teams came with Cunningham at the center of that for Indiana. Cunningham, Sheldon and Sun Guard Lindsay Allen were thrown out of the game with about 40 seconds left before the fever took the victory home.
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“During that, it was just part of the game. I think the judges had a lot to do with it. It was a structure for a few years now of those who just didn’t protect the star player in Wnba,” Cunningham said. “At the end of the day I will protect my teammates. That’s what I do.”
Lack of equal protection of Clark of the judges has been one of WNBA’s greatest criticism since she entered the league last year.
Clark’s rookie year in 2024 included several controversial events in which Clark became coarse by opposing players. Sometimes the judges could not call a mistaken, sparkling fan -forarring.
This season, in a loss to New York Liberty May 24, Clark contacted New York’s Natasha Cloud on the last game of the game. The judges did not call a mistake, causing Clark to throw his hands up in confusion, and she and Cunningham barked on the judges when the game ended.
Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham (8) and Connecticut Sun Guard Jacy Sheldon (4) Scuffle in the second half of a WNBA Basketball match in Indianapolis 17 June 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
A repetition showed that Sky pushed her shoulder into Clarks the moment the ball loosened. The fever was down with two, and a mistake would have sent Clark to the free-casting line with a chance to win the game.
Cunningham takes the cases in her own hands to punish players who, in her opinion, become too physical. And Cunningham also seems to keep the judges on their toes.
Who is Sophie Cunningham? Caitlin Clark’s new ‘bodyguard’ teammate
Former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah, who built a reputation as a “enforce” during his career while protecting a young Derrick Rose, Pakinomist told Digital in September he would urge the fever to get a player to protect Clark in 2025.
“If I was the owner of the Indiana fever, I would get a real enforce in there to protect her,” Noah told Pakinomist Digital.
“Sometimes I feel she’s getting hit because she’s a very talented person. But at the end of the day we’re in the process of winning games, so if I’m the owner [of the Indiana Fever]I get a real enforce in there. “
Who is Sophie Cunningham?
Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham poses for a photo 17 May 2025, before a game against Chicago Sky at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis 17 May 2025. (Grace Smith/Imag images via Indystar)
Cunningham has become a folk hero for many, and her popularity is skyrocket in the days since the match.
Before Tuesday’s game, Cunningham had fewer than 400,000 followers at Tiktok.
At the time of publication, she had 1.2 million on Tiktok and this number is only growing.
She has an estimated increase of more than 300,000 followers on Instagram since the game also with a total of more than 800,000 at the time of publication.
With Cunningham earning the nickname “The Enforcer” to the fever, fans who count on her to protect Caitlin Clark can easily know to know that she is a black belt in the Korean martial arts in Taekwondo.
She earned the black belt at the age of 6.
Her father Jim played football at the University of Missouri and she ended up following in her father’s footsteps on the football field.
ONE 2014 article By Columbia Missourian reported that Cunningham was the first female to ever score any points for the team in history as she kicked two of four extra points instead of the team’s regular kicker who had torn an ACL.
Cunningham even handled kickoff tasks.
“I was so nervous,” Cunningham told the business. “I mean, I’ve never played football before in my entire life. Just when I got the ball (on opening the kickoff), I couldn’t hear anything. I just put the ball down and kick it.”
Cunningham comes from a family of farmers and credits that breed for the person she is today, according to Five-part feature series by the University of Missouri.
“So much of our success goes back to what we learned here,” Cunningham said of working on the farm. “We loved to get out to the yard to help. We found out how we work hard and work together. It made us go into yard.”
