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Posted on: September 7, 2025 at 20:06:00 CT
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She Avenged Caitlin Clark on the Court. Now Sponsors (and the Right) Love Her.
The W.N.B.A.’s Sophie Cunningham is riding her viral moment to endorsements and brand deals. But she doesn’t want to talk politics.
Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever at a game last month. Her on-court actions in defense of her teammate Caitlin Clark in June attracted national attention.
Tania Ganguli
By Tania Ganguli
Published Sept. 1, 2025
Updated Sept. 2, 2025
On June 17, the Indiana Fever played the Connecticut Sun in a Women’s National Basketball Association game filled with hard fouls and bad feelings. One Sun player shoved the Fever star Caitlin Clark. Another, Jacy Sheldon, had poked her in the eye. The antics infuriated one of Ms. Clark’s teammates — the quick-tempered Sophie Cunningham, who said in later interviews that she felt that Ms. Clark, whose talent and fame were transforming the W.N.B.A., wasn’t being properly protected by the referees.
She wanted to send a message.
So with less than a minute left in the game, when Ms. Sheldon stole the ball and went sprinting down the court, Ms. Cunningham wrapped her arms around Ms. Sheldon and pulled her to the hardwood, fouling her. She then fought back as Ms. Sheldon and another Sun player, Lindsay Allen, rushed toward her, enraged. All three were ejected from the game.
Ms. Cunningham became a sensation.
Within days, she had more than a million followers on Instagram and on TikTok, up from a few hundred thousand. People who saw her as Ms. Clark’s enforcer cheered her at games. Opposing fans booed her enthusiastically.
“I didn’t do that for clickbait,” Ms. Cunningham said in an interview. “I stand up for my teammates.” She said she had heard that parents were using the incident to teach their children “to stand up and do that for their friends and for themselves.”
“I stand up for my teammates,” said Ms. Cunningham, who won cheers from fans who saw her as an enforcer for Ms. Clark,
Her motivations may not have been self-serving, but that one day created tremendous financial opportunity for Ms. Cunningham. She has also experienced increased attention from a conservative ecosystem that has lately shown interest in women’s basketball.
Ms. Clark’s treatment by other players has become a cause célèbre for right-leaning pundits, who see it as a racial issue. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece saying Ms. Clark’s civil rights were being violated, arguing without evidence that she was being targeted because she is white.
And while Ms. Cunningham said she was “right down the middle” politically, it didn’t escape the notice of the conservative outlets cheering her on that women’s basketball fans had called her “MAGA Barbie,” a derisive reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and to her appearance.
Some of the language used to describe fouls against Ms. Clark and the physicality of the W.N.B.A. is “often racially coded,” said Sarah Spain, a prominent sports journalist who hosts “Good Game,” a podcast about women’s sports. She counts herself among Ms. Clark’s fans but said she didn’t think her treatment was much different from that of other players.
She Avenged Caitlin Clark on the Court. Now Sponsors (and the Right) Love Her.
The W.N.B.A.’s Sophie Cunningham is riding her viral moment to endorsements and brand deals. But she doesn’t want to talk politics.
Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever at a game last month. Her on-court actions in defense of her teammate Caitlin Clark in June attracted national attention.
Tania Ganguli
By Tania Ganguli
Published Sept. 1, 2025
Updated Sept. 2, 2025
On June 17, the Indiana Fever played the Connecticut Sun in a Women’s National Basketball Association game filled with hard fouls and bad feelings. One Sun player shoved the Fever star Caitlin Clark. Another, Jacy Sheldon, had poked her in the eye. The antics infuriated one of Ms. Clark’s teammates — the quick-tempered Sophie Cunningham, who said in later interviews that she felt that Ms. Clark, whose talent and fame were transforming the W.N.B.A., wasn’t being properly protected by the referees.
She wanted to send a message.
So with less than a minute left in the game, when Ms. Sheldon stole the ball and went sprinting down the court, Ms. Cunningham wrapped her arms around Ms. Sheldon and pulled her to the hardwood, fouling her. She then fought back as Ms. Sheldon and another Sun player, Lindsay Allen, rushed toward her, enraged. All three were ejected from the game.
Ms. Cunningham became a sensation.
Within days, she had more than a million followers on Instagram and on TikTok, up from a few hundred thousand. People who saw her as Ms. Clark’s enforcer cheered her at games. Opposing fans booed her enthusiastically.
“I didn’t do that for clickbait,” Ms. Cunningham said in an interview. “I stand up for my teammates.” She said she had heard that parents were using the incident to teach their children “to stand up and do that for their friends and for themselves.”
“I stand up for my teammates,” said Ms. Cunningham, who won cheers from fans who saw her as an enforcer for Ms. Clark,
Her motivations may not have been self-serving, but that one day created tremendous financial opportunity for Ms. Cunningham. She has also experienced increased attention from a conservative ecosystem that has lately shown interest in women’s basketball.
Ms. Clark’s treatment by other players has become a cause célèbre for right-leaning pundits, who see it as a racial issue. The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece saying Ms. Clark’s civil rights were being violated, arguing without evidence that she was being targeted because she is white.
And while Ms. Cunningham said she was “right down the middle” politically, it didn’t escape the notice of the conservative outlets cheering her on that women’s basketball fans had called her “MAGA Barbie,” a derisive reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan and to her appearance.
Some of the language used to describe fouls against Ms. Clark and the physicality of the W.N.B.A. is “often racially coded,” said Sarah Spain, a prominent sports journalist who hosts “Good Game,” a podcast about women’s sports. She counts herself among Ms. Clark’s fans but said she didn’t think her treatment was much different from that of other players.
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I don't have a subscription but this was available for me - pinkman MU - 9/7 20:06:00