Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were eliminated from the WNBA playoffs in the first round. But outspoken teammate Sophie Cunningham believes perennial league MVP A’ja Wilson received preferential treatment in the Las Vegas Aces’ three-game victory — and needs to “grow up.”
Cunningham said on her podcast Saturday that she was not surprised the league did not suspend Wilson following an altercation with a fan in Game 2 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“She’s like the LeBron James of our league, and so of course they’re not going to suspend her,” Cunningham said on the latest episode of her “No Hesitation with Sophie Cunningham & Drew Hanlen” podcast. “I definitely think there’s a double standard. … [But] we wanted her to play. I think that makes for good basketball.”
Wilson already is a four-time MVP, and the 6-foot-4 center is a heavy favorite to win the award again this year for a third consecutive season after posting a league-leading 26.2 points and 9.4 rebounds (fifth) per game during the regular season.
Late in the Fever’s 99-89 home victory in Game 2 of the first-round series, the 30-year-old Wilson engaged in a heated exchange with a courtside fan who had been pointing at her.
The fan was not removed from the arena, however, and Wilson was not disciplined by the league afterward.
Las Vegas eventually won the series with a Game 3 closeout, but Cunningham went viral after mocking Wilson prior to the final matchup.
“Us women in sports, and I’m gonna say women in sports because that’s my occupation and I live this, but we yell from the rooftops that we want equality, that we want to be treated like the men, that we want all this stuff and we deserve all these things,” Cunningham added. “And we do, we do deserve it, right?
“But if you’re asking for all these fans to come, and you have new fans who are real sports fans, and they do something that a sports fan probably would do if you’re on the opposing team, and we’re gonna go at ’em for pointing, like, ‘You fouled?’ Like, grow up. What are we doing?”
The Aces will face the Golden State Valkyries in the second round beginning Sunday in San Francisco.
