Sophie Cunningham is the beauty and the beast of basketball. Off the court, she stuns fans with her stylish outfits and TikTok content, but on the court, she changes into a powerful competitor loved for her relentless spirit. She’s never shy about speaking her mind or standing up for her teammates, no matter the fallout, like during that heated Connecticut Sun game when she fired back at Jacy Sheldon with equal intensity.

In that same breath, Cunningham posted a TikTok criticising the referees in the WNBA. The video included her lip syncing the words to a Sabrina Carpenter song that had her saying, “Stupid! Or is it… slow? Maybe it’s… useless!” The video by itself could have been completely harmless, but it was the caption that set the fire. 

Cunningham posted, “@ some refs,” and her video blew up with over 1.2 million views. But it didn’t stop there as the WNBA league office hit her with a $500 fine. She called it out, saying, “Got fined $500 for this TikTok 🤣🤣 Honestly, I can’t stop laughing… Like, sure, okay 👍🏼 You’ve got bigger problems to worry about in our league right now.”

The league certainly has “bigger problems” than harmless TikTok, with the CBA negotiations blowing up at the All-Star weekend. They have only till October to sort that out. As for the referees, the complaints have been constant throughout this season, not only through videos like this. Angel Reese vocally called out the refereeing in a rant, and Kelsey Plum called it “absurd”. Fever coach Stephanie White also criticised it early in the season. Even WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert accepted it, saying, “As we go forward on the officiating, we hear the concerns. We take that employee input.” 

So, if they are “hearing the concern”, why is there a $500 fine on it? That was the question Sophie Cunningham and many other players are asking, and the frustration is obvious. On top of paying their players less than what they deserve, the league is also taking from them in the form of fines. Cunningham will earn $100,000 in the 2025 season, and that $500 seems small in comparison, but the reason doesn’t seem to justify that. And this is not a standalone incident either. 

Coaches like Stephanie White have been hit with fines for speaking out and penalized for openly criticizing questionable officiating. Natasha Cloud of the Liberty received a formal warning simply for wearing a hat on the sidelines, an offense she later called out as petty. Meanwhile, Minnesota Lynx’s Courtney Williams faced escalating fines for wearing sneakers from an unapproved brand. Her first fine was $100, and with each repeat offense, the amount doubled. By the fourth fine, the message was clear: express yourself, but be ready to pay the price.

The WNBA Needs To Be More Transparent With Its Fines

Like Sophie Cunningham said, the WNBA is not short of problems. And this is another one. The WNBA does not makes the fines public, we learn about it either fromthe players themselves or via some reports. The league does make an exception of major offenses but many of these go under the radar. 

Not many are as outspoken as Natasha Cloud or Sophie Cunningham, so we likely get to know only a fraction of the entirety of the fines. On the other hand, the NBA routinely announces its fines with the exact amounts and the reasoning. It does not give the fans and the media things to speculate about. If they start to do that then the league has a control of the narrative and thy can also explain their side where as currently, the players complaints gain the spotlight and does the league bad PR. 

The rules that they use for these fines are also sketchy, as the many failable offenses like strict sideline apparel, public comments, or social media activity are not always included in the publicly available rulebook. These rules often exist only in internal operations manuals given to teams, making it difficult for the public to know when or why a fine is issued. So, even if you dig deep into the WNBA rules website, it is unlikely you will find out why the fine was imposed. 

Concerns regarding the WNBA’s ambiguous fines and disciplinary procedure are reflected in Sophie Cunningham’s fine for a humorous TikTok. Players and fans become frustrated when there are unclear, publicly accessible rules and explanations, which erode confidence and overshadow the league’s beneficial development. In order to maintain the focus on the game and build stronger relationships with its players and fans, the WNBA must be more open and consistent.