Sophie Cunningham fined by WNBA for third time over podcast comments

It’s “third time’s the charm” for Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham, as she revealed the WNBA fined her again for criticizing officiating on her podcast. 

Cunningham, who was ruled out for the remainder of the 2025 WNBA season after tearing her MCL in Sunday’s game against the Connecticut Sun, told her “Show Me Something” co-host, reality star and Complex journalist West Wilson, that she got fined for comments regarding Dallas Wings star guard Paige Bueckers. 

“I love Paige to death, don’t get me wrong,” Cunningham said in her podcast episode from Aug. 13. “I think she’s a hell of a player and would love to play with her one day, but those refs were giving her every frickin’ whistle last night. Like you literally couldn’t touch her. That’s just so annoying to me.”

The WNBA fined Cunningham an undisclosed amount. 

“I’m officially 3-for-3 on being fined by the WNBA,” Cunningham said in the most recent podcast episode. 

“For this? For the pod?” Wilson questioned.

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“They didn’t like my comment on Paige Bueckers…I didn’t even say anything bad,” Cunningham responded. 

Cunningham was first hit with a fine worth $500 from the league for posting a TikTok where she captioned it “some officials” with lip-synced words from Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song, “Manchild,” which were, “Stupid. Or is it slow? Maybe it’s useless.”

Then, after comments about officiating in the podcast’s debut episode, Cunningham was slapped with a $1,500 fine. 

“If I was a ref, I know I would mess up all the time. Like, I’m not saying that your job is easy, but when it is a simple call right in front of your face multiple times, what are you doing? What are you doing?” Cunningham began in the debut episode.

“They’re just so inconsistent, like that’s one thing. If you’re on the other team, and you’re going to be fouling the s— out of me, cool. But let me do it to you… I think players across the league, and new fans across the country are like, ‘What is going on with the refs?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ And you fining me $500 is not going to do s—.”

Cunningham was in the midst of her first season with the Fever. Her popularity skyrocketed early this season in a game against the Sun where she protected Clark after the superstar guard was poked in the eye. 

Cunningham was ejected from the game for a scuffle underneath the Sun’s hoop, and from there, her social media presence has grown exponentially. 

Cunningham was playing on a one-year, $100,000 contract with the Fever, rendering her a free agent at the end of this season. 

She finished the season averaging 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game over 30 contests (13 starts).

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