Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham has been fined $500 for a TikTok post where she criticized the league’s referees, as announced by the player herself on the X platform. The original TikTok video showed Cunningham lip-syncing to a song that contained the phrases: “Stupid. Are they slow? Or maybe useless?”, with the mention “@ some referees” in the video. Published on July 18, the TikTok has accumulated 1.3 million views.
The referees’ work has generated controversy in the league this season, with numerous players and coaches criticizing the inconsistency in refereeing decisions. Some of the most prominent incidents have involved decisions affecting Fever star Caitlin Clark, Cunningham’s teammate.I was fined $500 for this TikTok. I don’t know why this makes me laugh… like, ok, understood! Because there are no more important things to worry about in our league right now.
Sophie Cunningham
Cunningham has been in the spotlight recently for her apparent protective role towards Clark. She was ejected after a physical altercation with Connecticut’s Jacy Sheldon last month, following a dispute between Sheldon and Clark during the game. Sheldon was also ejected.Everyone is improving, except the referees. So we have to find a way to fix it. They’ve heard every coach talk about it, so I don’t know what the solution is.
Stephanie White, Fever coach
