Fever's Sophie Cunningham Backtracks on Detroit, Cleveland WNBA Expansion Comments
For as much praise as Indiana Fever and WNBA fans had for Sophie Cunningham after stepping in to defend Caitlin Clark earlier in the season, she took just as much criticism for her recent comments regarding league expansion.
Following the WNBA's announcement that it was moving to Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030, Cunningham didn't hold back her candid opinion of the news. As Yahoo Sports revealed, the Fever guard admitted she would have preferred somewhere like Miami, Nashville or Kansas City.
Unsurprisingly, her pushback, specifically on the likes of Cleveland and Detroit, didn't sit well with a few professional athletes, nor with the cities themselves.
"You want to listen to your players, too. Like where do they want to play?" she said. "Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I think Miami would have been a great one. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown that nobody is using."
“I’m not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast. I think that that’s also another thing. It’s kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].”
Two days after the initial comments, Cunningham attempted to clarify her response, as Forbes reporter Tony East highlighted.
“First of all, I know the history behind the WNBA. I know both of those cities had teams before and they got us where we’re at, so I’m thankful for that,” Cunningham said initially.
“All I was really getting at is Broadway, the off-court lifestyle, so I think that is really intriguing. I think Miami is intriguing. That’s all I was getting at. I’m thankful for what they’ve done for our history of the sport. I think it’d be fun to get some teams outside the NBA market. I do think there’s benefits when you do have an NBA team, but that’s all I was getting at.”
Cunningham continued by adding that she believes people "misread the situation" regarding her comments.
Fever wing Sophie Cunningham offers clarifying thoughts about her comments on WNBA expansion from earlier this week: pic.twitter.com/pkXuXywI6E
— Tony East (@TonyREast) July 3, 2025
"I think people totally misread that situation," Cunningham said. "I would never speak down upon middle-class, blue-collar working people. That's where I come from, I'm from Missouri, I get I'm in Indiana."
Finally, Cunningham was asked how she felt about the response she received over her comments, and the 28-year-old gave an even-keeled response.
"The people that hype you up are going to be the same people who shoot you down. So for me, I always just kind of stay right here in the middle. I think that was my personal opinion ... people are going to love me, people are going to hate me, I think that's with anyone," she concluded.
Following Cunningham's initial comments, the City of Detroit replied on X with a blunt statement.
"The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals," the post reads. "Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning."
The City of Cleveland fired off a response of its own on X, even citing Cunningham's teammate and WNBA star Caitlin Clark's previous comments.
"Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!" the City of Cleveland's X account wrote. "We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!"
Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!
— City of Cleveland (@CityofCleveland) July 1, 2025
We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams! https://t.co/FVQ2NjkmdO pic.twitter.com/dVTCud6w7x
While Cunningham did backtrack on her initial comments and attempted to defend what she had said, she also did her best to clarify that she wasn't trying to put down either Detroit or Cleveland.
Regardless of her feelings or those of any other player, the WNBA's expansion continues to progress rapidly.
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