Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was recently involved in an altercation with Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. Cunningam committed a hard foul on Sheldon while the Connecticut guard was driving to the basket. The incident occurred after Sheldon and Caitlin Clark were involved in a separate altercation earlier in the contest. Although Cunningham's foul was controversial, her popularity has increased ever since it occurred.
Cunningham has become known as Clark's enforcer. She previously took issue with the WNBA referees' approach to dealing with hard fouls on Clark. As a result, Sophie has decided to take matters into her own hands. The result?
Cunningham's jersey sold out within days of the incident against the Sun. She also announced a new brand deal with Ring on Sunday.
"On the court, I protect my team. At home, @ring protects me. 💙#ad," Cunningham wrote as the caption for a video posted on her Instagram.
The video shows Cunningham explaining what led to the deal and includes Ring video footage.
"In light of recent events, you guys know how serious I am about protecting my girls on the court," Cunningham says in the video. "But what's protecting my home court? AKA my actual home? The obvious choice is Ring. Whether I just need peace of mind that I didn't actually leave my balcony door open after tanning, or, you know how much I love doing my food reviews, I need to make sure my deliveries are secure when I'm home."
Later in the video, Cunningham says, "So protect your home like I do, with Ring!"
Sophie Cunningham is clearly embracing her role as the Fever's "enforcer." Clark often draws intense defensive pressure, and there have certainly been plenty of hard fouls committed against her in the past. Sophie is hoping to limit those incidents.
Sophie Cunningham's first season with the Fever
Cunningham, 28, is averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per outing in her first season with Indiana. She plays with the second unit but has still recorded 22 minutes per outing. Head coach Stephanie White clearly values Cunningham's playing time as a guard off the bench.
She brings more to the Fever than her new "enforcer" role, but she is becoming especially popular for protecting Clark on the floor. Some fans have taken issue with Cunningham while others support her. Either way, Sophie Cunningham is seemingly doing everything she can to capitalize on her increased fame and popularity.