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Fever's Sophie Cunningham Reveals 'Funny' $500 Fine for WNBA Referee Roast

Indiana Fever standout Sophie Cunningham revealed her reaction to a fine she received from dissing WNBA referees.
Grant Young|
Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) during the game between the Dallas Wings and the Indiana Fever at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Indiana Fever standout Sophie Cunningham has never been afraid to speak her mind. This is one reason why she has quickly become a fan favorite for the Fever's fan base (not to mention that she is certainly not afraid to stick up for her teammates).

WNBA referees have received a ton of criticism from fans, coaches, and players alike from all 13 teams this season, as there has been frustration about games being unevenly called. The Fever have fallen victim to this, which Fever head coach Stephanie White has called out in multiple scathing postgame press conferences.

And White has had to pay for her frustration, as she was fined at one point earlier in the year because she got a technical foul (which Caitlin Clark said she would cover) for crashing out over a referee's decision during a July 3 game.

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White looks up Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White looks up Tuesday, May 20, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Sophie Cunningham Receives Fine for WNBA Referee Complaint

White isn't the only member of the Fever to get fined for expressing frustration about WNBA referees. On July 18, Fever standout Sophie Cunningham posted a TikTok that included her lip syncing the words to a Sabrina Carpenter song that had her saying, "Stupid! Or is it... slow? Maybe it's... useless!"

The post's caption was, "@ some refs". Her video went viral, amassing over 1.2 million views. And it also caught the attention of the WNBA league office, which Cunningham revealed with a July 23 X post.

"I got fined $500 for this TikTok 🤣🤣 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," Cunningham's X post wrote.

Respect to Cunningham for being able to find this fine funny. The good news is that the initial TikTok going viral almost surely made her more than the $500 she has to give the league because of it.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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