Sophie Cunningham’s sister didn’t stay silent after the Indiana Fever star suffered a knee injury. She strongly attacked WNBA referees. Demanding more protection for players.
Cunningham hurt her knee when Sun guard Bria Hartley fell on her under the basket. The Fever player stayed on the floor in obvious pain. This sparking many reactions—including from her family.
A strong criticism of the WNBA
According to the New York Post, Lindsey and Paula, Cunningham’s sister and mother, voiced their anger at the WNBA on social media. They even called out Hartley directly.
“@WNBA maybe should focus less on fining players for commenting on poor officiating and more on hiring officials who can call a consistent game and protect their athletes. Pathetic. Praying for you. @sophaller,” Lindsey posted on X.
Prayers up for Sophie Cunningham. Sophie’s sister Lindsey and mom Paula are calling out the league for fining players for calling out poor officiating instead of protecting players, and for Bria Hartley’s history as an out of control player. They won’t delete these tweets either. pic.twitter.com/q356U3htGz
— CaitlinFor3 (@CaitlinForThree) August 17, 2025
Her comment referred to the fines Cunningham received this season for criticizing WNBA referees on her podcast. The issue of officiating has become a hot topic. Many fans, especially of the Fever and Caitlin Clark, have slammed the referees’ performance.
Before deleting her post, Paula also expressed her frustration. She wrote: “Hartley is a disgruntled player who has problems wherever she goes; she’s simply bad and plays out of control.”
She seemed to refer to the fact that Hartley was ejected in the previous Sun game and had been involved in an incident with Angel Reese for pulling her hair.
After the game where Cunningham got injured, coach Stephanie White admitted she feared the worst: “Especially the way she fell, how she was holding herself, and how much pain she was in, at that moment it was like, ‘shit.’”
