The WNBA is evidently keeping a close eye on referee criticism.
Should they instead be looking into the fact that the league’s refs aren’t doing great at their own jobs? That’s definitely worth investigating. Officiating in the WNBA has been questionable to say the least, and it’s definitely been under a microscope when Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is on the floor.
Unfortunately, she’s battled with a number of injuries this year… and some are connecting the dots there and saying that the WNBA not calling fouls has led to the face of their league missing a lot of time. If you are in need of an example, here’s a clip of when Caitlin Clark was on the floor, and the ESPN broadcasting crew even taking notice that the refs missed four different fouls before they blew the whistle:
Insert generic, repeated referee criticism that a fan would yell from the stands here.
Obviously, when referees are there – and paid – to keep the game clean, and they don’t hold up their end of the bargain, players start to take matters into their own hands. That’s how the world really came to know Indiana Fever forward Sophie Cunningham last month. She rocketed to stardom after she decided to play the enforcer role and get back at an opponent who had just roughed up Caitlin Clark minutes before.
Check it out:
Ever since then, both Cunningham and Clark have been more openly criticizing the refs. Caitlin has been doing it more so in games… right to the referee’s faces. That’s certainly been a talking point in recent weeks. As for her enforcer teammate Sophie Cunningham, she took to TikTok to voice her displeasure with how WNBA games (specifically Indiana Fever contests) have been officiated:
@sophiecham I’m just trollin #fyp ♬ original sound – evey 🎀⭐️🍓
Nothing like jumping on a TikTok trend to get your point across.
Sophie posted that five days ago, and the Fever forward just found out today that the WNBA saw her TikTok, and let’s just say they weren’t big fans of it. The league hit her with a $500 fine for posting the video. Cunningham shared that news, and basically continued to call out the WNBA with her response:
“I got fined $500 for this TikTok. I don’t know why this is funny to me… like okay, you got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now.”
For reference, Sophie Cunningham is currently playing on a 1-year, $100,000 contract with the Indiana Fever… so that $500 fine probably won’t hurt all that much.
And it was cool to see that nearly everyone in the reply section of the WNBA star’s post about getting fined was a) in support of her and b) condemning the WNBA for going through with the petty fine:
The endless WNBA war on the people who are bringing attention to their product while protecting the behavior that turns people off NEVER ceases to amazed me.
— Johnny St.Pete (@JohnMcCloy) July 23, 2025
Sophie got fined for speaking the truth. How about they fix the refs and give the players a real All-Star Break. What a disgrace.
— Andy froemel (@FroemelAndy) July 23, 2025
The refs aren’t protecting the one player who has actually moved the needle, and has eyeballs on screens and bums in seats.
— Macca 2025 ☀️🏝️ (@_MaccaNZ) July 23, 2025
That is crazy work by the WNBA. They should fine the refs for being awful. I’m glad you are keeping the video up. 💪
— MD Olive (@OliveFlying) July 23, 2025
DON’T LET THEM SILENCE YOU
— CC Report (@cc22report) July 23, 2025
Yeah Sophie… keep posting those TikToks subtly calling out your employer! If she doesn’t mind the occasional fine, I’m sure it’ll work out just fine.
I also have to point out a meme I came across in the reply section. Though I can’t confirm nor deny that it was created with AI, I was very impressed with the picture’s attention to detail and clear and concise message:
— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) July 23, 2025
Alright… even if that is AI-generated, I’ll allow it. Very impressive, and though it’s Caitlin Clark featured instead of Sophie Cunningham, the meme is still very appropriate for this story.
