‘Out to Send Their Own Message’ — Ex-ESPN Star Rips WNBA Officiating for Controversial Call on Sophie Cunningham in Fever-Lynx
· Yahoo Sports
Sophie Cunningham has been at the center of the WNBA discourse over the last few weeks. In the wake of her comments on transgender athletes, a debate has swept across the entire league, with players, coaches, and organizations chipping in with their opinions.
Despite Cunningham’s polarizing presence, the Indiana Fever were starting to come together as a team. Unfortunately, that hot streak came to an end against the Minnesota Lynx when a call against her became a hot topic.
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Foul Call Goes Against Sophie Cunningham
The Fever came into the game against Minnesota having won five-straight games. However, the 25-6 Lynx proved to be too much for Indiana, as they took care of business with a 108-100 win.
Midway through the second quarter, though, the game was a far tighter affair. Leading by three, Minnesota had possession of the ball when Cunningham got tussled up with Nia Coffey. What seemed like an errant elbow from the fifth overall pick of the 2017 WNBA draft was instead called a foul on Cunningham.
“It’s a defensive foul,” the referee declared. “There was no secondary act after the defensive foul. Play resumes with Minnesota ball on the sideline.” However, even the broadcasting crew did not agree with the game officials’ assessment.
As they complained, former “SportsCenter” anchor Linda Cohn was quick to take the WNBA as a whole to task.
“Insanity! @WNBA officiating continues to be the worst of any league in pro sports. Are they blind or just out to send their own message to @sophaller,” she wrote on X. From that point forward, the Lynx were able to break out into a quick 16-4 run to stretch the lead to double digits.
Cohn wasn’t done yet. Instead, she then went a step further, making allegations against Fever head coach Stephanie White as well.
“Also did I miss Sophie’s coach coming to her defense like any HC should on such an awful call of a play that could have put Cunningham in concussion protocol?!?!” Cohn said.
The outcry from Cohn comes as Cunningham has established herself as one of the league’s most polarizing players. Her recent statements about transgender athletes have put the entire organization under a microscope, particularly her relationship with White.
White’s alleged silence on this foul call, as Cohn alluded to, might put that further under scrutiny. But their five-game winning streak ending in such a fashion is only going to raise the pressure on the Fever until they can get back on track.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.