Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham sends clear message to fans who think Caitlin Clark isn’t the face of the league

It’s been just over a year since Caitlin Clark made her WNBA debut, contributing 20 points and ending as the game’s joint top scorer (with DeWanna Bonner) but despite her efforts, the team lost 92–71 to the Connecticut Sun.

Caitlin’s record rookie season

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. She rewrote the record books so many times during her first season that it’s hard to know where to start. Caitlin posted several new WNBA records, among them: the most points by a point guard in a single season, the most double-doubles by a rookie guard in league history, the most points and the most assists by a rookie in WNBA history, the first WNBA rookie to record two triple-doubles... the list goes on.

And with all of that, a blossoming rivalry with another rookie who also turned the women’s game on its head: Angel Reese. The Chicago Sky forward also got into the record books in her debut season, setting a new WNBA single-season record of 446 rebounds in 34 games, and becoming the first player in WNBA history to record 20 or more rebounds in consecutive games.

Between them, Caitlin and Angel have probably done than anyone in promoting women’s basketball and engaging a new generation of fans. New records were set for attendance figures (2,353,735) and TV audiences (54 million) in 2024.

There’s no denying both player’s impact on the game but with it, there’s a toxic side, with some stoking the rivalry on social media for clicks. Both have been discredited - something which Fever guard Sophie Cunningham doesn’t understand - especially when it comes to her team mate.

The WNBA wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for Caitlin Clark

“It literally pisses me off when people are like, ‘she’s not the face of the league’... what!?” Cunningham told West Wilson in the first episode of the Show Me Something podcast. “There’s good, really well-known people in our league - I’m not discrediting them. We have a lot of badasses in our league, hell yeah to that, I’m all for that but when people try to argue that she’s not the face of the league, or our league would be where we’re at without her, you’re dumb as shit. You’re literally dumb as f**k”.

Sophie also gave her own insight to what Caitlin is like as a person and what’s it’s like playing alongside her.

“Dude, she’s just goofy. Everyone expects her to be a certain way and she is on the court but she’s low key a kid, like she’s 23 years old. She’s like my little cousin. It’s been fun to see where she’s at in her career… but I promise you she’s so chill, she doesn’t care, she’s always in sweats and a sweatshirt. She literally does not care“.

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