\n<\/p>\n
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is asking her WNBA peers to recalibrate their expectations of fan behavior, saying that demands for parity come with a price, which is acceptance of the sports norm.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t make excuses for our players, so I\u2019m not making an excuse now for how our players respond to our fans,\u201d said Cunningham, during a recent episode of her No Hesitation podcast. \u201cSome of that has to do with what happened to A\u2019ja Wilson, the No. 1 overall pick in the first round of the WNBA playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n Us women in sport<\/strong>\u2026 we scream from the rooftops that we want equality, that we want to be treated like the men,\u2019 Cunningham said on her podcast. \u2018But if you\u2019re asking for all these fans to come and they do something that a sport fan would probably do if you\u2019re on the other team\u2026 and then we\u2019re going to come for them for just pointing, saying that you fouled. Like, grow up. What are we doing?\u2019<\/p>\n Cunningham spoke about Game 2 of the Fever-Aces playoff series, in which Wilson did battle with a fan directly behind the baseline who pointed at her after a foul was called. Wilson was assessed a technical for moving toward the stands, but she didn\u2019t face any further punishment from the league.<\/p>\n According to Cunningham, the league handled this double standard, asserting that Wilson, who she compared to the \u201cLeBron James\u201d of the WNBA, was treated like a star.<\/p>\n \u201cif you want to get technical, that could have called for a suspension,\u201d said Cunningham, who felt the scandal over fan arm movements was very much blown out of proportion.<\/p>\n The remarks continue a string of outspoken criticism from Cunningham this year. At the beginning of the summer, an ESPN profile depicted a new, no-holds-barred character for Cunningham, who offered up some divisive opinion on limiting trans athletes from competing in female sports as \u201ccommon sense.\u201d Her remarks were the subject of national media coverage and a public call for inclusion from the WNBPA.<\/p>\n And in addition to on-court discussions, Cunningham looked back on the Fever\u2019s 2026 campaign, which included a three-game first-round playoff loss to the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n Cunningham said that the falloff in Indiana\u2019s consistency, after praising fellow Terrapins Clark, Mitchell and Boston, was \u201cjust that we had that disruption in our schedule midway through the season with the FIBA break and everything.<\/p>\n \u2018It was so fun and so good\u2026 I think FIBA may kind of put a little bit of a dent in the momentum we were building,\u2019 Cunningham said. \u2018It kind of sucks because we\u2019re just all so competitive and we\u2019re all just trying to get a championship in the end\u2026 all these fun, historic in-season stats really don\u2019t mean much because we all just want to win.\u2019<\/p>\n The Fever\u2019s regular season scoring leader was also their best player all season, but Indiana\u2019s was as fall ended in heartbreak.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe A\u2019ja Wilson Fan Incident & \u201cDouble Standards\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Reflection on Indiana Fever\u2019s Playoff Exit<\/strong><\/h2>\n