Lisa Leslie Has Strong Response to Sophie Cunningham's Viral WNBA Expansion Comments

WNBA legend Lisa Leslie didn't seem to appreciate what Sophie Cunningham said about the three American cities receiving expansion franchises.

Nov 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Former NBA player and olympic athlete Lisa Leslie speaks during a DEI Summit ahead of the 2024 NWSL Championship match at Union Station. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham went viral for critical comments she made about the WNBA's recent announcement about expansion franchises being awarded to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia from 2028-2030.

"I also think that you want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play? Where are they gonna get excited to play and draw fans? I do think that Miami would have been a great [location]," Cunningham said. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast. I think that that's also another thing.

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]," Cunningham concluded.

She has received a lot of pushback for these comments, including from the cities of Detroit and Cleveland. And WNBA legend Lisa Leslie also didn't seem to appreciate what Cunningham said, which she conveyed in an Instagram comment on July 1.

"Uggghhhh! I need to call a meeting with all the players of the @wnba," Leslie wrote in a reply to @brwsports' post about what Cunningham said.

not lisa leslie activating auntie mode 😭 pic.twitter.com/A5I6677eO7

— 💌 (@babymarri11) July 2, 2025

While it's unclear what exactly Leslie was trying to say with these comments, it seems that she perhaps wants to educate the league's players about the WNBA's history, or perhaps just give them some PR training about what should be said publicly and what should be kept behind closed doors.

Regardless, Cunningham's comments aren't keeping these three American cities from receiving WNBA teams across the next five years.