The Indiana Fever showed their true potential Friday night, picking up a 98-87 win over the Dallas Wings. A few hours later, Sophie Cunningham went viral due to her postgame celebration.
Caitlin Clark led the charge for the Fever with 29 points and 10 assists. The former No. 1 pick's impressive performance earned some praise from head coach Stephanie White during the postgame press conference.
"She's like a maestro, the way that she really runs our offense," White said. "I think when we're at our best, she is instructing, she is running it much like a show, and it's tough to match up with us when she's commanding the floor like that."
Cunningham didn't exactly light up the boxscore on Friday (5 points), but she did turn heads in downtown Indianapolis once the game was over.
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Footage of Cunningham celebrating at Clayton's Country Bar was shared on Instagram this weekend. There's a video of her jamming out to "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue" along with her friends. Most of her fans had nothing but kind things to say about her postgame celebration.
"We love ya Sophie," one fan said.
"Sophie is such an awesome athlete. She doesn’t let anything shake her," a second fan commented.
"She’s awesome. I hope she continues to do her thing on and off the court," another fan wrote on Instagram.
It's been a hectic summer for Sophie.
Back in July, ESPN spoke to Cunningham about transgender inclusion in women's sports. She talked about wanting to protect young girls from competing against biological men.
“I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans,” Cunningham told ESPN. “And I’m like, ‘I never once said that.’ I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Cunningham's remarks became the No. 1 story in the WNBA for a few weeks. Some fans thought she was being unfair to the transgender community, while Vice President JD Vance and others celebrated her.
Last Saturday, Cunningham was fouled hard by Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington. That incident caused quite the debate online about whether or not Cunningham is being targeted by her peers.
“Clearly, I think it was like unnecessary,” Cunningham said after the game. “I’ve never really spoken to her and have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent-up stuff. So, get your (expletive) off. That’s fine. I can take it.”
At this rate, it won't be long before Cunningham is back in the headlines.
