Sophie Cunningham Explains Controversial Statement on WNBA Expansion

Kansas City has been floated as a possibility, with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said to have interest in commandeering an effort to add a WNBA franchise there.

"But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cleveland," Cunningham said.

Naturally, this irked those markets, to the point where fans were calling Cunningham out on social media and prompting terse responses from her there.

Now, the 6-foot-1 vet has attempted to further explain the reasoning behind her previous statement.

"Okay, first of all, I know the history behind the WNBA. I know that both of those cities have had teams before," Cunningham said, "all I was really getting at is like, Broadway [in Nashville], the offcourt lifestyle [seems fun]. And so I think that is really intriguing, I think Miami's intriguing." 

During her first season in Indiana, the 28-year-old Cunningham has emerged as a defense-first enforcer off the bench for an ascendant Fever club led by All-Stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. She's averaging a modest 5.6 points, 4.1 boards, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per.

"That's all I was getting at," Cunningham noted. "I am thankful for what they've done for our history of the sport. I think it would be fun to kind of get some teams outside the NBA market... I think people totally misread that situation, I would never speak down upon middle-class, blue-collar working people, that's where I'm from."