Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has publicly stated that WNBA players are targeting Caitlin Clark and criticized the league for failing to protect the superstar.
Key Points:
- Targeting Clark: Cunningham said on a podcast that Clark faces excessive physical contact beyond normal basketball play in every game, and that the league and referees do “absolutely nothing” about it.
- Specific Incident: Her comments stemmed from a controversial moment in the Fever’s game against the Phoenix Mercury, where Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas made contact with Clark’s throat after she fell to the floor. No foul was called during the game, but the league later upgraded it to a flagrant-2 foul and suspended Thomas for one game.
- Teammate Response: Cunningham revealed that she and her teammates did not see the play during the game, otherwise they “absolutely would have had her back.”
- League Marketing: Cunningham also criticized the league’s promotional strategy, arguing that Clark, along with teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aaliyah Boston, should be at the center of the league’s marketing efforts, but that the WNBA has failed to fully capitalize on their star power.
Key Quotes:
- On the targeting of Clark:
“Unfortunately, this type of s*** happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it,” said Cunningham. “If she did that to any of our teammates, we’d be pissed, but like they’re definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.”
- On the league’s marketing:
“If they were smart they would market this [expletive] out of some of us. They don’t,” Cunningham said. “That should be Caitlin. That should be Kelsey Mitchell. That should be Aaliyah Boston. Like, why are we putting random players on there? I’m one of them.”
Leave a Reply