“In the women’s game, is it really about how good you are or the visibility, how pretty you are?” Angel McCoughtry has set off a big debate with this one question. The five-time WNBA All-Star said on the Get to the Point podcast that looks and visibility can matter more than talent when it comes to endorsements, and she used Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham as her example. 

When the hosts asked if she thought Caitlin Clark was pretty, McCoughtry laughed and moved on without answering.

The clip drew a fast response from analysts on Fox News’ The Big Weekend Show, and one host said what bothered her most.

“It’s amazing to me how the WNBA and the players in the WNBA, their league is getting attention that helps and benefits all of them, but you see certain players actively badmouthing the ones who are bringing the attention, the money, and the eyeballs to their league. And it’s just amazing to me what women are willing to do to each other at their own detriment,” she said.

To see why, it helps to know what McCoughtry actually said. She described going to a conference where everyone loved Indiana and Clark. When she asked how many people knew Kelsey Mitchell, nobody raised a hand. Mitchell, she said, is the best player on the team and has only about 100,000 followers.

Mitchell led the Fever in scoring at 24.7 points per game this year, and Clark averaged 22.3.

Then she turned to Sophie Cunningham, who averages fewer than 10 points a game but has an Adidas shoe deal. McCoughtry said Cunningham “did some drama on the court” and got visibility from it. Terrell Owens pushed back, saying beauty may get a player in the door but can’t make her stay. 

McCoughtry replied that the real issue was attitude and followers turning into brand deals, and she wanted to “give them some shine,” meaning the league’s best players.

The Fox panel saw it differently. The host said the WNBA “cannot get out of its own way.” In her view, former players are going on podcasts to lament the growth of the sport because they do not like the people bringing in a new audience. 

A panelist said looks are surely part of why Sophie Cunningham gets endorsements, the way Troy Polamalu got Head & Shoulders for his hair. But he said her spotlight comes from something else. In his telling, Clark was getting bullied after she feuded with Angel Reese when the two entered the league, and Cunningham would not put up with it. Add her on-court antics, her podcast and her willingness to speak up, and the attention made sense. 

Panelists added that Cunningham’s huge social media following is part of her appeal and what brings in the money, and she found it disheartening to see this from a league that has gained so much.

The events behind that argument are well documented. On June 22, Cunningham stepped in after Clark and DeWanna Bonner tangled during the Fever’s game with the Phoenix Mercury. She stared down Bonner and pointed at her for almost half a minute, and the video went everywhere. Her first Adidas player-exclusive shoe came out on July 24 and sold out within hours.

She also added about 3 million followers between May 8 and Nov. 2.

Reese has her own list of deals. She has partnered with Reebok, Cash App and McDonald’s, walked in the Victoria’s Secret show and got her first signature shoe in September 2025. Clark, on the other hand, just became the first athlete brand partner in the history of both DICK’S Sporting Goods and Foot Locker. 

WNBA.com has also noted, citing a 2022 study, that 3,500 brands bought 5,650 sponsorships across 14 leagues.

That is the argument behind one popular post. It said Sophie Cunningham stood up for Clark when half the league was trying to take her out, fans noticed, and her shoe sold out within hours. “

That isn’t about her looks. That’s loyalty, and it sells,” it read. 

The X post asked why “pretty privilege” never comes up when Reese walks for Victoria’s Secret, and ended with a message for the league’s veterans: stop hating and start thanking the players who brought in millions of new fans.

Plenty of others weighed in. The clip passed a million views, and Sports Illustrated’s Grant Young wrote that McCoughtry could have made her point without naming any Fever players. He also noted that she never explained what the conference was. Social media reactions ranged from criticism to defense, with fans and analysts weighing in on the endorsement question.

Fans on social media were blunt.

“She was today’s years old when she discovered how marketing works,” one wrote.

Another said, “Just say you hate them, save everyone time.”

One independent columnist wrote that endorsements are not beauty contests and that marketability is a mix of talent, personality, public appeal and the ability to connect with an audience.

So even with McCoughtry saying Mitchell deserves more shine, the reaction has landed in one place. The league has millions of new fans, and the people who brought them in are getting the credit.