Why Sophie Cunningham Fired Back at Criticism Over Her Fever Future

What the column argued

Buckner's case was not mainly about basketball. She acknowledged a bench player averaging under eight points and argued that the attention around Cunningham had become larger than her contribution. The line most quoted afterwards: “This was the season when the Fever and even the whole Caitlin Clark experience took a backseat to a bench player with big opinions.” Her conclusion was that if Indiana wanted “to go back to being a basketball team again,” then “Cunningham has to go.”

Coverage of the column by Awful Announcing notes that it also tied Cunningham to the Game 2 fan incident with A'ja Wilson, on the basis that the fan had mimicked her trademark finger-point. Two days later Buckner and Brian Hamilton discussed the same question on The Athletic's No Offseason podcast, in an episode titled “Should the Fever Move On From Sophie Cunningham?”

Two clarifications matter. This is an opinion column: it states one writer's view, not a decision by Indiana and not an institutional position of The Athletic. And the Fever have said the opposite about the off-court question — more on that below.

What Cunningham actually said

On No Hesitation, co-hosted with the trainer Drew Hanlen, she said critics are “thirsty” for attention and that most “have never picked up a ball in their entire lives.” Her argument was about value not shown in the box score: “I know what I bring to the table. It's not always in the stat sheet.” She then finished with “Suck it.” — the phrase that carried the headlines.

Hanlen went further, calling the column an “absolute hate piece” and citing her bench scoring and three-point accuracy. Front Office Sports said The Athletic could not be reached for comment. Those are the verified quotations; paraphrases circulating on social media are not used here.