Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham says Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson needs to “grow up” after Wilson confronted a Fever fan during Game 2 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for pointing at her following a disputed foul call.
Cunningham addressed the incident on her podcast “No Hesitation,” which she co-hosts with trainer Drew Hanlen, after watching a clip from the “Pat McAfee Show” confirming the fan had said, “It (the foul) is on you,” while pointing.
“Oh my God! I have so many thoughts,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said she had held off commenting on X so she could save her reaction for the podcast, then didn’t hold back.
“Us women in sport, and I’m just gonna say women in sport because that’s my occupation and I have lived this, we yell from the rooftops that we want equality. We want to be treated like the men,” she said. “We’re gonna go for them for just pointing and saying, ‘You fouled!’? Like grow up! What are we doing?”
Cunningham rejected the idea that players should be shielded from fan reactions while demanding equal treatment with men’s sports.
“Us athletes need to be treated better” and “These fans need to be more supportive and not say anything negative,” she said, paraphrasing the attitude she disagrees with.
Cunningham, who has become one of the WNBA’s most criticized players for saying men should not compete in women’s sports, said she knows what real hostility looks like.
“I can say this, because I, hands down, have probably got s— on the entire season, maybe sometimes two seasons — people coming after who I am, my character, what I stand for, x, y, z, I could go on and on. I’ve heard the worst of the worst. It’s part of it,” Cunningham said.
She argued players should expect scrutiny that comes with the job.
“You should be grateful to be on this platform. You should be grateful to be playing basketball for a living and inspiring the next generation. If you really want sports fans, then you’re gonna get sports fans. That includes pointing. That includes getting yelled at. Probably [will] be getting called names,” she said. “I don’t think [the Fever fan] did absolutely anything wrong.”
Cunningham also suggested Wilson got off easy because of her stature in the league.
“If you want to get technical, that (Wilson’s actions) could’ve called for a suspension, but she’s like the LeBron James of our league so of course they’re (WNBA) not going to suspend her,” Cunningham said.
Wilson was not suspended, ejected or fined over the confrontation. Cunningham also said former Fever guard turned Amazon Prime commentator Sydney Colson, along with fellow Amazon analyst Theresa Plaisance, should have faced consequences for leaving their courtside seats to get involved in the altercation.
“There’s definitely a double standard,” Cunningham said.
Asked whether she and her team wanted Wilson to play while the league weighed possible punishment, Cunningham said the opposite.
“We wanted her to play. I think that makes for good basketball,” she said. “Who would’ve thought that someone pointing would cause so many people to go into a mental spiral? That says a lot more about your mental status to anything the fans are doing.”
Cunningham and Hanlen also compared the incident to a separate moment in Game 3, when an Aces fan stepped onto the court and pointed at Fever guard Lexie Hull after another disputed foul call.
Cunningham’s teammate Raven Johnson apologized to Wilson on Friday via X for separate remarks made during a media appearance with Myisha Hines-Allen about Hines-Allen’s hard foul on Wilson. Cunningham has not softened her position.
