The Big Lead

WNBA fines Sophie Cunningham for Sabrina Carpenter TikTok video slamming referees

Sophie Cunningham poked a little fun at some WNBA referees using a Sabrina Carpenter video on TikTok, and it's ended up costing her.

By Divij Kulkarni

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham celebrates during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Atlanta Dream. / Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Sophie Cunningham has become a fan favorite on the Indiana Fever since she was acquired in a trade this year. The guard has dealt with some controversies surrounding her in 2025, but she hasn't let it affect her game and her personality too much.

WNBA referees aren't strangers to controversy; they have been criticized endlessly in the past few seasons, and this season has been no different. Recently, Cunningham took to TikTok to voice her opinions on the refs, using Sabrina Carpenter's song Manchild to do so.

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The Fever player was fined $500 by the WNBA for her post, and it led her to share another social media post on X.

"I got fined $500 for this TikTok, idk why this is funny to me… like ok you got it bud! Cause there’s not more important things to be worried about with our league right now," Cunningham wrote.

Players in the W are currently in the middle of negotiating for an increase in pay. The league's popularity has exploded in the past few seasons, and it only continues to grow. The players want their slice of the pie to be increased, which only makes sense.

For Cunningham to be fined for this amid the larger conversation going on at the moment is intriguing, to be sure. But the one thing that's always been clear in basketball is that publicly criticizing the referees will always result in punishment of some sort, no matter what else is going on.

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