Sophie Cunningham’s Sister Rips WNBA Refs After Fever Guard Gets Injured

Cunningham left Sunday's game early after a Sun player fell into her.

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham left Sunday's game against the Sun early due to a scary looking injury. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Fever's 2025 season got a worrisome update Sunday afternoon after guard Sophie Cunningham suffered a knee injury against the Sun.

On the play that got Cunningham injured, the Sun's Bria Hartley turned over the ball and then awkwardly fell into the unsuspecting Fever guard. Cunningham immediately clutched her right knee in pain and was later helped off the court into the locker room. She was ruled out for the rest of the game shortly after.

It didn't appear as though there was any malicious intent from Hartley, and there was no official review for the play. Cunningham's sister, Lindsey, nonetheless took a shot at the WNBA referees for what she thought was "poor officiating" overall and for failing to protect the league's athletes.

"@WNBA maybe you should focus less on fining players for commenting on your poor officiating & more about hiring officials that are able to call a consistent game and protect your athletes. Pathetic. Praying for you," Lindsey wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

.@WNBA maybe you should focus less on fining players for commenting on your poor officiating & more about hiring officials that are able to call a consistent game and protect your athletes. Pathetic. Praying for you .@sophaller 🙏🏼❤️

— Lindsey Cunningham (@Lbreezzyy) August 17, 2025

Cunningham was fined twice this year for criticizing the WNBA's officiating, once in a TikTok video and once during her podcast.

Cunningham also received two other fines following the Fever's win over the Sun back in June, when the Fever guard fouled Connecticut's Jacy Sheldon in retaliation to Caitlin Clark getting knocked down earlier in the game.

---

More WNBA on Sports Illustrated

feed