Just a few hours ago, a video of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham went viral after she insulted the cities that the WNBA chose for its latest expansion: Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Detroit. Now, those cities are fighting back against Cunningham's harsh opinion.
Cunningham expressed that she didn't think players entering the league would want to play in Detroit or Cleveland, not even taking the energy to mention Philadelphia. Detroit had the perfect response.
"You wanna listen to your players too, where do they wanna play? Where are they going to get excited to play?Sophie Cunningham
...I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."
Cunningham is just starting to make a name for herself in the league, becoming well-known for her physicality on the court and continuous defense of teammate Caitlin Clark. Now, she's known for doubting the growth of the league itself.
The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals.
— City of Detroit (@CityofDetroit) July 1, 2025
Additionally more than… https://t.co/ePZhzQE1f3
The Detroit Shock was a WNBA franchise from 1998 to 2009 before it moved to Tulsa in 2010, and eventually became the Dallas Wings in 2016. It played at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan and won three Championships (2003, 2006, and 2008).
A few hours after the city of Detroit's clap back, the city of Cleveland had a response of their own for Cunningham, using a video of Clark.
Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!
— City of Cleveland (@CityofCleveland) July 1, 2025
We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams! https://t.co/FVQ2NjkmdO pic.twitter.com/dVTCud6w7x
The video of Clark is from the 2023-24 NCAA season, her final year with the Iowa Hawkeyes, when she led her team to an appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA Women's Tournament.
"I'd never been to Cleveland before, it has been awesome...Caitlin Clark
Honestly, it just feels like a bigger version of my hometown Des Moines, Iowa, it's obviously just a bigger city."
Clark went on to talk about LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player of all time, being the face of Cleveland since he was selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft and winning one of his four NBA titles with the Cavs.
To put it lightly, Cunningham's take on the WNBA expansion cities has rapidly blown up in her face, and it was probably for the best that she didn't say anything about Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love and home to the defending Super Bowl Champions.