Cleveland, Detroit respond to Sophie Cunningham’s WNBA expansion comments

CLEVELAND (AP) — The folks in Cleveland and Detroit are pushing back on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham with some civic pride after Cunningham questioned the league’s choice of expansion to those markets.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, right, works the floor against Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

CLEVELAND (AP) — The folks in Cleveland and Detroit are pushing back on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham with some civic pride after Cunninghamquestioned the league’s choiceof expansion to those markets.

The social media accounts for each city posted responses to Cunningham, who said Tuesday she wasn’t sure “how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”

The X account for Clevelandposted a videoof Fever star Caitlin Clark talking about having a good time in Cleveland during the 2024 Final Four in college, noting: “Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!”

As for Detroit, the cityposted on Xabout the former Shock franchise’s strong attendance record and noted: “Detroit is a sports town.”

The WNBA on Mondayannounced its plans to add three more expansion teamsby 2030. The league already had plans to add franchises in Toronto and Portland next season. Thethree new teamswill play in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030), giving the league 18 teams.

Cunningham, a seven-year veteran who spent her first six years in Phoenix, expressed skepticism over the latest choices, two of which — Cleveland and Detroit — have already seen WNBA franchises come and go.

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AP WNBA:https://apnews.com/hub/wnba

The Associated Press

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