Turns out the W’s resident taekwondo black belt has mastered the art of restraint, too. It’s a core martial arts principle: just because you can throw hands doesn’t mean you should. Unless, of course, you’re Sophie Cunningham and someone keeps testing your Zen. Earlier this season, things got heated when Jacy Sheldon poked Caitlin Clark in the eye during a Fever–Sky matchup. It was then followed by a hard shove from Marina Mabrey.

Sophie (never one to let things slide) stepped in as Caitlin Clark’s avenger. She grabbed Sheldon mid-layup and sparked a mini-melee that spilled past the baseline. It all resulted in ejection; however, the message was received. Fast forward to Indiana’s gritty 78–74 win over Seattle, it was their fifth straight! And Cunningham’s name is back in the mix. This time, it wasn’t a retaliatory foul. It was actually Cunningham on the receiving end.

A clip that is making the rounds on X shows that Sophie Cunningham took a hard hit on the hardwood, right under the Fever’s basket during a rebound battle. Storm guard Tiffany Mitchell grabbed the ball that Sophie was already holding. However, instead of disengaging, she appeared to pin Cunningham to the floor with her body weight while trying to wrench the ball away. The moment the referee walked in, Mitchell casually stood up and walked off. To fans’ and viewers’ surprise, no whistle, no foul, no nothing. And yes, they are now fuming…

If not Referees, Fans Got Sophie Cunningham’s Back

It all started when one person reposted the clip with the caption: “How is this not a foul??? This s*** is a joke 😂😂😂.” They were stunned, but others in the replies… not so much in shock. One commented, “Yeah of course, cause it’s just Sophie. Been the theme of this season.” And honestly, they might be onto something. Flashback to July 15: Indiana Fever were riding a high at 12-10 after beating the 3-19 Connecticut Sun.

But that win came with an elbow to the dome for Sophie Cunningham. The Fever guard Sophie Cunningham took a hard shot to the head when a Sun player set a screen. She hit the ground, no foul was called. Later, she jumped on X to say: “they said I flopped. el oh el.” Now here we are again, another no-call, and the timeline’s just waiting to see what Sophie fires off next.

But maybe it’s bigger than Sophie. One fan put it bluntly: “It is def a foul.. but against ANY Fever player, no. The refs have a diff set of rules for the Fever.” And honestly, that’s been the chorus of complaints all season. Stephanie White’s been leading it from the front: “Bad officiating is bad officiating,” she said. It got so heated at one point that she got T’d up against the Aces for yelling at a ref to just call the damn play.

Fans, as always, came prepared with solutions. One said, “Fever fans have to start booing the refs so loud the rafters shake and keep booing them…” Funny? Absolutely. But hey, it might work. After all, the Fever fans do know how to boo, just ask DeWanna Bonner. When she returned to Indiana for the first time after her midseason trade to the Mercury, the crowd booed her so viciously she looked like she was holding back tears. Some Mercury players called it “distasteful.”  However the fans look like they’re ready to use that energy on the refs next.

Some took the comments a step further by comparing the league to a different sport altogether. “I thought the W stands for Wrestling,” one said. Another chimed in, “They never give Sophie the foul call in these situations. They like to watch the wrestling that takes place.” One fan even leaned into the sarcasm with some football rules: “It’s a tackle play… oh wait… this isn’t football!” Meanwhile, the real rule nerds had gripes with the jump ball call.

“Jump Ball rules in this league make no sense,” one wrote. Another added, “That does not look like a jump ball in any way imaginable.” And by definition, they’re not wrong: a jump ball should only be called when both players gain simultaneous possession, which… this clearly wasn’t. Still, not everyone was outraged. Some stood by the call and wrote,  “This was clearly a jump ball. Soft 😂.” 

Another person chimed in to describe their version of how the event took place. They wrote, “Came in and grabbed all ball do y’all even watch basketball how is that a foul 😂😂😂.”  But then, someone brought in a little NBA perspective to the situation that actually made sense. “Just imagine if Draymond Green did that.” And suddenly, it all clicked. Because let’s be real, if Draymond Green had thrown that elbow, the refs would’ve already mailed him the fine.

So, in Sophie Cunningham’s case… was it a foul? A jump ball? WWE in disguise? We’ll let you decide.