Sophie Cunningham Makes Honest WNBA Referee Confession After Fever Beat Aces

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham turned heads with her comments about WNBA referees on September 28.

Aug 7, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts against the Phoenix Mercury during an WNBA game at PHX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Injured Indiana Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham doesn't mince words when it comes to calling out WNBA referees when they deserve to get called out.

A perfect example of this is what Cunningham said during a September 2 episode of her Show Me Something podcast, where she said, "If I say the word 'ref' on this podcast, I'm gonna get fined. So I might as well just go balls to the wall... What kind of really pissed me off about last week are three things. And again, I was high on meds, but it still triggered my hate for the refs."

She then added, "What is kind of getting out of hand is that the refs are allowing it to be too physical, and then people can get away with certain stuff. And then that's when emotions flare, and that's when you see fights, or people things that they probably shouldn't be doing."

Sep 14, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts to a call against the Atlanta Dream in the fourth quarter during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Cunningham then noted how her teammate Lexie Hull was elbowed by Lynx player Kayla McBride during an August 24 game and said, "That should have been upgraded. Because I know if that was anybody on our team — if it was me, probably because I talk s*** on here, and then my reputation — they probably would have thrown me out [of the game]. And so, that's not okay."

Sophie Cunningham Speaks on Referees Fever Game 4 WNBA Semifinals Win

While Cunningham is often at odds with WNBA officials, she certainly doesn't have anything to complain about in her team's 90-83 win over the Las Vegas Aces on September 28, which evened the WNBA Semifinals series at 2-2.

The Fever seemed to get a lot of favorable calls in the contest. They certainly took a lot more free throws (34 to 11) than the Aces.

This discrepancy prompted Robin Lundberg of Indiana Fever On SI to make an X post after the game that read, "The Fever definitely benefited from the whistle today."

And Cunningham responded to this post by writing, "And it’s about damn time. I honestly thought the refs did a nice job today on both sides!"

And it’s about damn time. I honestly thought the refs did a nice job today on both sides! https://t.co/FCgfvJ85PI

— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) September 28, 2025

It's a little bit shocking to see Cunningham show praise for referees, and it's probably a foreign feeling for her as well.

But this referee praise is all but guaranteed to be short-lived, given that the league's referees are so inconsistent that Tuesday's Game 5 showdown will almost certainly be officiated completely differently than Game 4 was.