Sophie Cunningham’s Viral Finger Point Has Sparked a Bootleg Empire

It lasted only 22 seconds, but Sophie Cunningham’s rigid, extended index finger has become the most recognizable silhouette in women’s professional basketball.Images of the Indiana Fever forward pointing aggressively at an opponent during a WNBA game have spread across social media like wildfire. Now creative online entrepreneurs are aggressively cash-cropping the viral moment, printing it onto bootleg T-shirts that retail for as much as $18.Some creative designs depict Ms. Cunningham as a modern-day Statue of Liberty. Others re-image her as George Washington pointing the way across the Delaware River. For $9.75, fans can purchase a shirt featuring her outstretched finger and the slogan “The Point is to Win Game.” A similar photo of Ms. Cunningham simply pointing in an Indiana Fever uniform can be bought for $16.27, reduced from $20.34.Yet, Ms. Cunningham is not receiving a single dime from this revenue. Neither does the WNBA for WNBA players association, which is prohibiting its business partners from incorporating “the Point” in their products, saying the gesture is “derogatory.”First reported by sports business journalist Darren Rovell, the players union is rejecting all deals associated with the Point but won’t prohibit Ms. Cunningham from monetizing on the incident which went viral and has produced thousands of memes.“Players are of course free to create and/or license their own product,” the union told Front Office Sports. “And if any brand wants to use the WNBA’s team logos and branding, they would need to seek approval from the league, not the union.”There’s no indication Ms. Cunningham is working with a brand to monetize “the Point,” which occurred during a game against the Phoenix Mercury when Ms. Cunningham and former teammate DeWanna Bonner got into a brief scuffle and Ms. Cunningham came up pointing and staring straight at Ms. Bonner for 22 seconds.Images spread across social media like wildfire with hundreds of celebratory memes, but some industry experts are urging corporate caution. A trademark attorney, speaking to the New York Sun on the condition of anonymity, said Ms. Cunningham would be wise not to officially monetize the incident because the prolonged stare down could easily be interpreted as a threatening gesture.Furthermore, the attorney noted the complex cultural optics surrounding the clash. “Others might view it in racial terms,” the attorney said. “You have a white player, pointing at an African American player in a manner that can easily be perceived as demeaning. She might be wise to let the unauthorized market run its course without attaching her own name to it.”Earlier in that same game, Alyssa Thomas, Ms. Bonner’s teammate and fiancé, struck Caitlin Clark in the throat and was suspended by the league.If Ms. Cunningham doesn’t directly benefit financially from the Point, she has already benefited indirectly with increased attention to her blooming brand. Her popularity first reached unprecedented heights in June 2025 when she intentionally slammed into Jacy Sheldon of the Connecticut Sun as payback for taking a cheap shot at Caitlin Clark.In the four ensuing days, her number of TikTok followers jumped from 300,000 to 1.4 million. After the Point, the number has ballooned to 3.2 million followers, compared to 1.1 million for Ms. Clark. On Instagram, Ms. Cunningham has amassed 2.6 million followers and climbing.Though she could make a small fortune selling her own T-shirts of the Point, Ms. Cunningham has enjoyed a growing stream of perks and outside income over the last year. She has appeared on a billboard outside Madison Square Garden, dazzled in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, and recently worked a round as a ring girl at UFC 329.On Friday, the Adidas Crazy Energy Sophie Cunningham PE shoe will be released for $120, a significant milestone for someone who wore $45 Adidas during WNBA games a year ago. Beyond footwear, she also has confirmed brand deals with Arby’s, European Wax Center, Ring, and Quest Nutrition. Her podcast “Show Me Show Me Something,” has an extended deal with iHeart Radio’s women’s sports podcast network.“I guess when you take a girl’s head off, people like that stuff,” Ms. Cunningham said in a feature profile by ESPN.If shoving Ms. Sheldon on the ground defined Ms. Cunningham’s 2025, the Point has only added to her reputation as Ms. Clark’s enforcer, a label she doesn’t necessarily embrace. “I’m not the enforcer,” Ms Cunningham told ESPN. “I am not a bodyguard. I am just going to do whatever the team needs. And if my teammates need me to stick up for them, I will do that.”It’s proven very profitable for bootleggers, too.

Sophie Cunningham’s Viral Finger Point Has Sparked a Bootleg Empire

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