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Sophie Cunningham Reveals If WNBA Player Intentionally Injured Her

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 10:48 AM ET

Indiana Fever superstar Sophie Cunningham will not be a part of her team's playoff push following a season-ending injury she suffered at the hands of Connecticut Sun star Bria Hartley. Her first year in Indiana ends after 30 games and 13 starts.

Cunningham sustained a torn MCL in her knee over the weekend when Hartley fell onto her knee after passing the ball. The Fever star was not diagnosed until Tuesday, but the injury was clearly extremely painful at the time.

However, one image that went viral online quickly had people wondering if Hartley may have injured her on purpose. In the image, Hartley can be seen with a wide grin on her face looking in Cunningham's direction as the Fever star clenches her leg and hobbles up and down.

But while fans were quick to condemn Hartley, is Cunningham aligned with them?

Cunningham's thoughts on the 'dirty play' claims

On Tuesday's edition of her Show Me Something podcast, Cunningham cleared the air on her thoughts over her injury. She made it clear that she does not think Hartley injured her intentionally, pointing out that she and Hartley are "really good friends."

Cunningham said that what happened to her was merely "a basketball place" and she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She called on fans to stop "giving Bria some heat."

"I know Bria, and I'm actually really good friends with Bria. And I have been waiting to get on the pod so we can talk about this... But I don't think that there [wasn 't any] ill intent," Cunningham said. "I think it was a basketball play, I was just in the front spot at the wrong time, she fell. Like, there's no way she would go in there and intentionally try to hurt me.

"I have nothing but love for Bria... Bria and I are super cool, and she would never try to hurt me. Because there are some girls that I think might, but she wouldn't do that. I hope people stop giving Bria some heat, because I don't think she meant to do that at all."

Cunningham and Hartley were teammates on the Phoenix Mercury from 2020 to 2021, so they've known each other for years.

The smile controversy

As far as the controversy over Hartley's smile after they both fell goes, Cunningham dismissed that one too. She thought that it was more of a grimace in reaction to her own fall as opposed to any delight Hartley might have gotten from hurting her.

"And I think that smile, it wasn't like a [happy smile], it was like a [grimace]. One of those. So I'm totally fine [with Hartley]. It's whatever."

It certainly sounds like Cunningham is willing to let sleeping dogs lie as far as her injury goes.

That may be small comfort to WNBA fans who were hoping to see Cunningham (and possibly Caitlin Clark) playing together in the upcoming playoffs.

Though with five games left to go and Caitlin Clark still nowhere to be seen, the Fever will need to really step things up now.

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

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