When the Indiana Fever welcomed the Connecticut Sun to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse arena, fans knew things would turn aggressive. They were hardly three minutes into the game when Caitlin Clark crossed paths with Jacy Sheldon, and by the third quarter, rough scuffles ensued, which included Clark sustaining an eye-poke and being pushed to the floor. But in the fourth quarter, Fever’s Sophie Cunningham retaliated after she pushed Sheldon to the ground while attempting a pass. And that resulted in yet another fight.

While it ended in the Fever walking away with an 88-71 win and a finals ticket to the Commissioner’s Cup, Sophie Cunningham landed with a punishment for her unsportsmanlike behavior on the hardwood. She was ejected in the final minute of the game and was upgraded to a flagrant 2. But would you believe us if we told you Cunningham successfully converted the incident into something positive?

Well, the whole situation got her more than 50k new followers on Instagram, as per Socialblade and so, her total following on the social media app sits at 570k. The backup guard came into the limelight during the last leg of the game with just 46.1 seconds remaining for the game to come to a close; Sheldon was on a breakaway when Cunningham wrapped her arms around Sheldon’s neck and pushed her to the floor. While Sheldon quickly got to her feet, Cunningham pulled her hair as the two verbally spat at each other.

This incident was enough to eject Sophie Cunningham, Jacy Sheldon, and Lindsay Allen. The backup guard was sidelined due to an ankle sprain that was caused in the previous game against the Sun. Ironic.

Further, ESPN reporter Alexa Philippou revealed another development in the matter concerning the Fever and Sun players. She took to X and broke the news regarding foul upgrades. “Marina Mabrey’s technical from last night’s Fever-Sun game has been upgraded to a flagrant 2, the league told ESPN,” Philippou wrote. “A flagrant 2 comes from a standard fine. Additionally, Sophie Cunningham was fined separately for her hard foul with 46 secs to play. No players will be suspended.”

So while the league decided not to suspend any player, Cunningham has found herself with a slap on the wrist. Despite the negative effects of her actions, many Fever fans praised Cunningham for her bold stand against the Sun athletes as a mark of loyalty and respect towards the roster. But Connecticut Sun head coach Rachid Meziane was not impressed by the move.

Head Coaches speak their mind on Sophie Cunningham’s actions after the game

Tuesday night’s fiery showdown with the Connecticut Sun ended in controversy and raised eyebrows regarding the league’s officiating system. “I did not understand [Cunningham’s foul],” Meziane said. “When you are winning a game by 17 points and you doing this, to me, stupid foul, this is just disrespectful and I don’t know how Jacy and Lindsay [got] ejected from the game when they did nothing.”

While his views on the officiating system were focused on the Connecticut Sun, the Indiana Fever head coach, Stephanie White, had direct concerns regarding the referees and the inconsistency of stepping up and nipping the matter in the bud instead. Known for voicing her concerns crystal-clear, White wanted clarity on Clark’s third-quarter foul. “There wasn’t an explanation for the technical [Clark] got. I think it was pretty obvious stuff was brewing,” White said. She further highlighted the ongoing officiating issues and quipped, “Everybody’s getting better, except the officials. We need to remedy that. I mean, we’ve heard every coach talk about it. I don’t know what the answer is.”

While the league cleared that they would not be imposing fines on the respective head coaches for speaking their minds on the issue, one can not neglect the fact that the inconsistencies have, indeed, become the league’s identity. And they are here to stay. As the two teams navigate through the fines, the limelight, and the drama, one thing is clear: The W needs to come up with better rules to avoid such incidents from blowing up in the future. What do you think?