Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been fined $500 for a TikTok post criticizing the league’s referees, she wrote on X.
The original TikTok featured Cunningham lip-synching to song lyrics, saying, “Stupid. Or is it, slow? Or maybe, useless?” with the words “@ some refs” on the video.
The TikTok was posted on July 18 and has since garnered 1.3 million views.
“I got fined $500 for this TikTok,” Cunningham tweeted Wednesday, with laughing face emojis. “idk why this is funny to me… like ok you got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now.”
Officiating has become a contentious issue in the league this season, with many players and coaches criticizing referees for inconsistent calls. Some of the most high-profile instances have surrounded calls involving Fever star Caitlin Clark, Cunningham’s teammate.
Clark is now out with a groin injury without a timetable for her return.
“Everybody’s getting better — except the officials,” Fever head coach Stephanie White said last month. “So we got to find a way to remedy it. I mean, you’ve heard every coach talk about it, so I don’t know what the answer is.”
Cunningham has been in the headlines recently for appearing to be Clark’s protector. She was ejected after a physical altercation with Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon last month following a scuffle between Sheldon and Clark earlier in the game. Sheldon was also ejected.
Cunningham’s salary for the 2025 WNBA season is $100,000.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
The WNBA has an officiating problem which they do not want to admit to and just hate it when the light is shown on the problem, especially from the inside.
She’s not wrong. The WNBA refs are worse than most rec league referees! Very painful to watch. These refs can’t seem to get anything right. Note to the WNBA: Hire professionals if you want to be a professional league.
Great way to highlight the issue by Sophie
Love the sense of humor and sense of fun!
When you have an Organization that exists for 30 years solely on corporate welfare, it should not shock anyone that competence and accountability go by the wayside. I think whoever runs the “W” is genuinely shocked by the criticism.
Like most, I rage about the special protections QB’s and in specific Mahomes and Brady get/got, but unlike the “W”, the NFL is a for profit business and they understand not only do they need their stars on the field, but all the plays on the highlight reels originate with the QB
Watching Clark or any other PG getting consistently mugged is mind boggling