Indiana Fever On SI

Pat McAfee Praises Sophie Cunningham's 'Black Belt' Caitlin Clark Support for Fever

ESPN's Pat McAfee got honest about how Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham had Caitlin Clark's back against the Connecticut Sun.
Grant Young|
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Pat McAfee watches during workouts at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Pat McAfee watches during workouts at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

If you're fan of women's basketball or the Indiana Fever, you surely know about all of the extracurricular activity that took place during the team's June 17 win over the Connecticut Sun.

Specifically, how star guard Caitlin Clark was shoved to the ground in the third quarter by Marina Mabrey (which prompted Clark and Mabrey to get a technical), and then how Fever guard Sophie Cunningham seemed to retaliate by wrapping Sun guard Jacy Sheldon (who poked Clark in the eye before Mabrey shoved her) and sent her toward the court floor while Sheldon went for a layup with about one minute of game remaining.

This sparked a brief brawl between the Fever and the Sun, which led to Cunningham, Sheldon, and Sun player Lindsay Allen getting ejected. It has also prompted a lot of discussion about whether what Cunningham did was cheap or whether she was just being a good teammate for Clark.

ESPN personality Pat McAfee delivered his own opinion about this during a June 18 episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

"It feels like Caitlin Clark is going to get treated in a certain way in this league for a long time. She's not a rookie anymore. She has already proved herself. She has won. And then there was some ladies last night that were trying to get a little physical," McAfee said.

"And last year, I think something we noticed... when Caitlin would get bullied, nobody would do nothing... They bring in Sophie Cunningham, I had no idea Sophie Cunningham was a black belt at the age of six! Boom! 'Jacy Sheldon, that's cute. You want to poke [Clark] in the eye?... I'll take a take-foul, and you'll eat the deck a little bit here.'

"I love it," McAfee concluded of what Cunningham did on Tuesday.

Most Fever fans will surely share McAfee's stance.

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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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