Paige Bueckers Responds to Viral Sophie Cunningham Comments on Referee Drama
Prior to Friday night's home contest against the Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings' star rookie Paige Bueckers responded to recent viral comments made by Indiana's Sophie Cunningham towards league officials.
Read more: Sparks' Kelsey Plum, Rickea Jackson Break Records in Win Over Sun
Paige Bueckers on Sophie Cunningham’s comments about the referees giving her foul calls last game: “Everyone is entitled to their own unique personal opinion.”
— Joey Mistretta (@JoeyMistretta_) August 15, 2025
“Everyone is entitled to their own unique personal opinion," Bueckers said pregame on Friday before the Sparks versus Wings matchup.
Bueckers' response comes just days after — following Dallas' 81-80 win over Indiana on Aug. 12 — Cunningham called out both her and the WNBA referees.
Last one. Here’s Sophie talking about Paige’s special whistle.
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) August 13, 2025
Full Video Here : https://t.co/pdWMkhRq6F pic.twitter.com/TCIGwT3V2L
"I love Paige to death, do not get me wrong ... I think she’s a hell of a player and would love to play with her one day, but those refs were giving [Bueckers] every whistle last night," she said on a recent podcast episode.
"Like you literally couldn’t touch her, couldn’t touch her," Cunningham added. "If you’re going to do that, then give it to our guards."
The comment was made a month after Cunningham posted a TikTok calling out the league's officiating — captioned, "@ some refs." — prior to July's 2025 WNBA All-Star events.
The Fever guard then took to social media once more — announcing in a X post that the WNBA fined her $500 for the video.
"I got fined $500 for this TikTok," she wrote. "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."
Furthermore, also before the All-Star Game, Sparks' star guard Kelsey Plum — named an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year — delivered a similar statement.
Read more: Sparks' Cameron Brink Reacts to WNBA All-Star Snubs
At WNBA All-Star media availability on Friday morning, Plum was brutally honest when speaking about recent WNBA officiating — and clear issues with the league's refs, per Robin Lundberg.
"I think people are getting frustrated at the consistency," Plum said. "So it's a ticky-tack [foul] here, then someone gets absolutely assaulted over here — and like, where is the line? And when did we call it? Why did we call it?
"I also think, too, a lot of teams specifically play me very physical, which I get," she continued. "But a foul is a foul — a foul in the first quarter is a foul in the fourth quarter ... The officiating across the board, people have been frustrated with."
More Sparks news:
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International Legend Reveals Reason For Rejoining LA
Sparks Waive Two Players Ahead of 2025 Season
Sparks’ Cameron Brink Revisits Feeling After Tearing ACL
For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Sparks, visit Los Angeles Sparks on SI.
Ben Geffner is an award-winning sports journalist and current student at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. A greater Los Angeles native now with countless years of extensive and dedicated experience — including beat reporting, writing, play-by-play broadcast, television anchoring, podcasting and video production — Ben remains eager to contribute as credentialed media covering the LA Sparks.
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