Sophie Cunningham Offers 'Read Too Much Into' Response to Caitlin Clark's Winning Shot

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham made waves on social media in addressing Caitlin Clark's recent game-winner.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) and guard Caitlin Clark (22) | Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images

Indiana Fever wing Sophie Cunningham took to social media to clarify how Caitlin Clark's game-winning shot against the Washington Mystics on June 8 came together.

On June 9, Cunningham commented on an X post that re-shared a graphic Cunningham posted on Instagram earlier that day and wrote, "you guys read too much into things. that’s THE EXACT play our coach drew up and we executed it perfectly!"

you guys read too much into things. that’s THE EXACT play our coach drew up and we executed it perfectly! https://t.co/8C0iouJ5LK

— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) June 10, 2026

The graphic she was commenting on came from an Instagram post she made earlier that day, which was an AI-generated graphic showing her, Clark, and Fever head coach Stephanie White in a locker room after Clark's game-winner.

The post is captioned, "Didn't follow the plan... Won anyway," and leans into the idea that Clark receiving Cunningham's pass on that final play wasn't the Fever's initial plan when drawing the play up, which has been a topic of discussion on social media since Clark's shot found the bottom of the net.

The graphic also displayed a text bubble from White that wrote, "You followed the plan... right?"

Cunningham had her arms up and a text bubble that wrote, "Oops? 😅", and Clark had two text bubbles, one writing, "Worth it. 😈" and another that said, "We may have... Improvised. 😳".

Why Sophie Cunningham Can Joke About Strategy Behind Fever Game-Winner vs. Mystics

Those who've been following Cunningham's Fever tenure to this point know that she's prone to joking and likes to keep things lighthearted, both on social media and in Indiana's locker room.

However, the fact that and manner in which she's joking about this final play likely says several things: For one, the most important thing is that Indiana won the game. Cunningham would not have posted this graphic if her pass to Clark had been intercepted or if Clark had missed the three-pointer, and the Fever lost. Her joking in the first place is a byproduct of everything working out.

Also, the nature of most ATO "After Time Out" plays is they're drawn up to have multiple options available for the inbounder to pass to, affording a player like Cunningham the freedom to make the right read.

When looking at the ATO play that led to Clark's shot, one option seems to be Kelsey Mitchell cutting across in front of Cunningham. Lexie Hull was coming around to the near side at the baseline, and then there was Clark coming off a screen set for Hull and getting open on the weak-side wing.

CAITLIN CLARK FROM 30 IN THE CLUTCH OMGGGGG pic.twitter.com/7xVnmcoonC

— Shabazz 💫 (@ShowCaseShabazz) June 9, 2026

Plus, the way that Aliyah Boston was sealing herself in the paint showed that if Clark did get the ball, she would have had the option to shoot it or pass it to Boston, who would've had time to get a shot off.

Ultimately, the Fever likely didn't expect the Mystics defense to get so mixed up and for Cotie McMahon to try to jump the pass, which is how Clark got so open. And this might have been what led to the "improvised" nature of the game-winner.

All of this is to say that having multiple options for Cunningham to pass to was the point. And it doesn't matter whether Clark was the first option because, at the end of the day, all that matters is she got the ball and sunk the shot. This is why Cunningham can joke about what happened, and why her doing so doesn't say anything about the play that was drawn up (which White credited assistant Austin Kelly for), other than that it did exactly what it was meant to: produce a Fever win.