Fever's Cunningham fined for criticizing referees

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been fined $500 by the WNBA for a TikTok video criticizing league referees, as she announced on X. The July 18 TikTok featured Cunningham lip-syncing lyrics stating "Stupid. Or is it, slow? Or maybe, useless?" while tagging "@ some refs" on-screen, and has accumulated 1.3 million views.

Cunningham reacted to the fine with sarcasm on social media, tweeting with laughing emojis: "idk why this is funny to me... like ok you got it bud! Cause there's not more important things to be worried about with our league right now." This occurred amid growing tensions over officiating this season, with multiple players and coaches condemning inconsistent calls—particularly those involving Cunningham's teammate, Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Fever head coach Stephanie White recently amplified these concerns, stating: "Everybody's getting better—except the officials... you've heard every coach talk about it." Cunningham herself has drawn attention for appearing to act as Clark's on-court protector, including being ejected from a game last month after a physical altercation with Connecticut Sun's Jacy Sheldon following an earlier incident between Sheldon and Clark. Both players were ejected.