Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham shared a story about an airport incident involving Brittney Griner.
Cunningham was the latest guest on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast, where she recounted a tense moment during her time with the Phoenix Mercury.
The Fever guard had nothing but good things to say about Griner. Cunningham described the 10-time All-Star as the “coolest person you’ll ever meet.”
Cunningham recalled an experience at an airport with Griner and her other Mercury teammates. Cunningham relayed how fans crowded Griner because they had no security with them at the time. This prompted Cunningham and their other teammates to protect Griner.
“We literally had zero security, and we got swarmed,” Cunningham recalled. “They were all kind of going after [Griner] a little bit. And so we all kind of, us players, put a circle around her.
“There was one guy who, I guess, he was kind of our security, I don’t know. And he was carrying her Louis Vuitton bags.”
The unnamed man tried to help but it ultimately resulted in a facial injury for Cunningham.
“He saw what was happening, so he ran in to push those people away,” Cunningham continued. “But when he did it, he threw the bags. And it came back and cracked me right in the nose.
“I was like, ‘Damn, I was trying to help.’ But I just get cracked by a $5,000 bag right in my schnoz. Black eye the next day. It was great.”
Cunningham spent the first six seasons of her career with the Mercury, from 2019 to 2024. She was teammates with Griner throughout her spell in Phoenix, except for the one season the 6-foot-9 center was detained in Russia in 2022.
The Mercury traded Cunningham to the Fever in 2025 as part of a four-team deal.
Griner, on the other hand, spent the 2026 season with the Connecticut Sun. Like Cunningham, she, too, will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
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