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City Of Cleveland Has Message For Sophie Cunningham

Originally posted on The Spun | By Andrew Gould | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 6:41 PM ET

Cleveland pushed back on Sophie Cunningham's expansion comments.

The WNBA announced Cleveland as one of three cities receiving a new franchise. Philadelphia and Detroit will also land an expansion team, but Cunningham didn't love the league's selections.

When speaking to reporters, the Indiana Fever guard named Miami, Nashville, and Kansas City as superior alternatives. Cunningham added another layer of insult to her critique by mentioning the wrong Ohio city.

"Man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cincinnati," she said.

The City of Cleveland challenged Cunningham by using old comments from Caitlin Clark, who visited Cleveland for the Final Four in 2024.

"Sophie, your teammate doesn't seem to think Cleveland is too bad!" Cleveland wrote. "We're proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!"

While Clark didn't leave Cleveland with a national championship, the NCAA's all-time scoring leader loved her "super cool" trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

"I've never been to Cleveland before. It's been awesome," Clark said last year. "Honestly, it feels low-key like a bigger version of my hometown, Des Moines, Iowa ... I'm excited to play here."

As for whether Cleveland and Detroit can house a WNBA franchise, both already have. The Cleveland Rockers were one of the league's eight original members in 1997.

Dan Gilbert, whose ownership group leads the WNBA's return to Cleveland, encouraged Cunningham to embrace the league's new hosts.

"Come on Sophie, obviously you haven't been to Detroit or Cleveland," Gilbert wrote. "You should support your Midwest sisters in this league and these two great cities that you're going to come to know and love very shortly."

Destination Cleveland, the city's official tourism account, offered a snarkier response when admonishing Cunningham for incidentally bashing Cincinnati.

"If you're going to @ us get our name right," they said.

Maybe Cleveland and Detroit residents will forget about Cunningham's remarks by the time they officially join the WNBA, but perhaps Clark can show her around Cleveland sooner.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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