There’s a case to be made that Sophie Cunningham’s stardom was sure to skyrocket as soon as she was traded to the Indiana Fever this past WNBA offseason. Given that the Fever are the league’s most popular team (largely because of Caitlin Clark, who is one of the most popular athletes in the world right now), Cunningham’s profile was guaranteed to be heightened just by being in Indianapolis. Then she joined the roster and immediately began cultivating a good relationship with Clark, which helped her start to attract attention and build her brand. But everything changed on June 17, when the Fever faced the Connecticut Sun. Clark was knocked to the floor by Sun player Marina Mabrey in the third quarter of that game. This was the byproduct of Clark getting into a light shoving exchange with Jacy Sheldon. One quarter later, Cunningham grabbed Sheldon by the neck and threw her to the ground while she was going for a layup, prompting both players to get ejected and sparking a brief brawl between the two teams. This
