Sophie Cunningham put critics of second-year Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark on notice.
Cunningham dismissed the notion Clark is not the “face of” the WNBA. “
It literally p—es me off when people are like, ‘She’s not the face of the league,’” Cunningham said of her Indiana teammate during the first episode of the “Show Me Something” podcast.
“We have a lot of badasses in our league, and, hell yeah, I’m all for that, but when people try to argue that she’s not the face of our league or that our league would be where we’re at without her, you’re dumb as s—. You’re literally dumb as f—.”
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Cunningham recalled her 2024 season with the Phoenix Mercury in her argument that Clark’s star power led to harsher on-court treatment from competitors during her rookie season.
“I know the talks Phoenix had in their locker room of, like, ‘We’re going to show her what the W really is,’” Cunningham said. “I get it to a certain extent. Every rookie coming into the league, that’s how you’re going to treat them. But there’s just more for her. It’s her second year. Now being on her team and seeing it, I’m like, ‘What are people doing?’ It’s just too much.”
This isn’t the first time Cunningham has come to Clark’s defense. She intervened earlier this season during an on-court altercation between Clark and Sun players Jacy Sheldon and Marina Mabrey.
Clark has generally dismissed ideas that other WNBA players zero in on her despite outcry from some fans about the perceived lack of calls from referees in favor of the Fever guard. Last season, she did suggest she faced an unusual level of physicality from opponents.
“I think everybody is physical with me. They get away with things that probably other people don’t get away with,” Clark said in 2024, according to The Associated Press. “It’s tough, but that’s just the fact of the matter.
Clark added that the physical style of play is part of competition.
“This is a very physical game, and you’re going to get pressure. This is professional basketball. It is what it is, honestly,” she said.
Earlier this month, Clark’s fellow WNBA players voted her the league’s ninth-best guard. Clark has played in just 13 games this season due to multiple injuries. She is averaging 16.5 points per contest, a few points below her average in 2025.
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