Sophie Cunningham Gives WNBA the (Index) Finger While Her Opponents and the Internet Go Crazy

Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham isn’t afraid of pointing fingers, especially when it comes to defending her superstar teammate, Caitlin Clark. Ms. Cunningham’s finger-pointing incident during a recent game with the Phoenix Mercury went viral, quickly transforming into one of the most popular memes across social media.The fans ran with the image of Ms. Cunningham silently gesturing at opponent DeWanna Bonner during the June 24 game. Memes of Ms. Cunningham in finger-pointing mode included Michelangelo’s Adam touching God, “Sophiticus,” and George Washington crossing the Delaware.“Dear Sophie Cunningham, While the rest of the WNBA was busy doing boring things like dribbling and scoring, you ascended Mount Petty and delivered the single greatest athletic achievement of the 21st century: The 22-second Point Heard ‘Round the World,’” wrote social media poster Glenn Reib in a long online salute to Ms. Cunningham’s tenacity. “DeWanna rolled up with big emotions; you just hit her with the slow, unblinking finger of doom like a disappointed Victorian ghost who’d had enough of everyone’s nonsense. No words. No touching. Just pure, concentrated shade channeled through one perfectly extended index finger. I haven’t been this proud since the invention of sarcasm itself,” he continued.Yet, beneath the internet humor lies a simmering dead-serious grievance. The gesture underscored Ms. Cunningham’s firm belief that opposing teams are actively “targeting” Ms. Clark, all while the WNBA and its refereeing officials “do nothing to protect her.”As the 30th WNBA season nears its midway point, the escalating physicality and hard fouls against Ms. Clark have become the league’s most pressing issue. The punishing environment the third-year guard has endured was spotlighted during Indiana’s grueling and sometimes heated matchup with the Mercury.A Mercury forward, Alyssa Thomas, used her fist to press down on Ms. Clark’s neck when the two fell on the court during a tense play in the second quarter on June 24. Shockingly, no fouls were called at the time, and Ms. Clark later left the contest — a 111-109 Fever loss — with a back injury. It was only after a review of the game tape that the WNBA office ruled the incident a Flagrant 2 foul and handed Ms. Thomas a one game suspension.“You see the videos of literally kneeing and cheap-shotting her in the throat,” Ms. Cunningham said on her “Show Me Something” podcast with co-host West Wilson. “They’re definitely targeting her, and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her. Unfortunately, that type of s— happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.”Ms. Cunningham’s self-appointed role as Ms. Clark’s on-court enforcer remains fiercely intact. Often, it’s a physical response with a retaliatory push or delivering a hard foul of her own to balance the scales. But the simple finger-point during an exchange with officials and Ms. Bonner during the same game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis spoke volumes.“I couldn’t help myself,” Ms. Cunningham said. “She was losing her s— and all I was doing was literally pointing.”Ms. Cunningham received a technical foul, calling it “the weakest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I didn’t say a word.”Despite the rough play, Ms. Clark’s production is on a historic pace after she missed most of last year due to injuries. She is currently fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 21.2 points per game, and second in assists at 8.2 per contest. No player has ever averaged at least 20 points and eight assists over the course of a WNBA season.When Ms. Clark left the Mercury game with a back injury, she had 19 points and eight assists in just 20 minutes. Her departure ended a league record streak of six straight contests with at least 20 points and five assists.Ms. Clark isn’t taking the rough play lightly, nor is she turning the other cheek. She has amassed five technical fouls protesting calls or no calls, including one technical for aggressively clapping. Though eight technicals will trigger a suspension, Ms. Clark told reporters in Indiana she isn’t backing down.“I’m going to play with emotion. I’m going to play with passion,” she said. “If they’re going to give me a technical for clapping, then so be it, that’s their choice. The league can come back and review that play and I’d love to hear what they say of the reasoning of why I got a technical foul in that situation and why other players on their team didn’t get a technical foul in that situation.”Fever coach Stephanie White acknowledged that Ms. Clark’s fiery temperament on the court can occasionally work against her when dealing with officiating crews. “There are some that we can be a little more in control,” Ms. White said of Ms. Clark’s reactions. “We’ll continue to remind her, and I think she has to have an awareness.”The WNBA is caught in a transitional space where it must promote its young stars like Ms. Clark, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Angel Reese, while also marketing established stars like A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.That friction boiled over when the league released a commemorative graphic of players past and present that didn’t include Ms. Clark but did include Msses. Reese and Cunningham. “It’s a joke. It’s a joke,” Ms. Cunningham said. “And this is why the WNBA is getting lit up on social media because you are leaving out a generational talent, the best player to ever go through the WNBA.”

Sophie Cunningham Gives WNBA the (Index) Finger While Her Opponents and the Internet Go Crazy

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