No one said that defending your teammate and the most popular female athlete alive wouldn’t pay off.
Sophie Cunningham, the one and only teammate of Caitlin Clark’s to come to her defense, has hit 1 million TikTok followers only one week after slinging Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon to the floor in response to Sheldon raking Clark across the face.
That action led to a full-on courtside brawl.
That game took place last Tuesday. As of last Wednesday, Cunningham had just over 300,000 followers. On Saturday, less than a week after her courtside heroics, Cunningham eclipsed the 1 million follower mark.
Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever arrives at the arena before the game against the Connecticut Sun during the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup game on June 17, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Jim Poorten/NBAE via Getty Images)
And she’s not slowing down; as of Tuesday morning, she had 1.4 million TikTok followers.
Though she was fined for hr actions during the game last Tuesday, Cunningham remains defiant and blames the referees for not taking control of the game.
Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever arrives at the arena before the game against the New York Liberty on May 24, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
“During that, it was just part of the game. I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a build-up for a couple of years now of them just not protecting the star player of the WNBA,” Cunningham told reporters on Sunday. “At the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates. That’s what I do.”
