Sophie Cunningham's legend grows with hilarious Caitlin Clark-inspired outfit

Sophie Cunningham isn't letting up on the Caitlin Clark-related hype anytime soon. Cunningham, who has gained enormous popularity in recent weeks after committing a hard foul against the Sun's Jacy Sheldon this month, was spotted ahead of the Fever's game against the Aces wearing a "Tres Leches" shirt — the nickname fans have given to her, Clark, and teammate Lexie Hull.

A photo of Cunningham in the shirt was shared widely online, including by the WNBA. The trio have formed a tight friendship this season, something that's been on display in games and practices.

Cunningham called out WNBA refs in defense of Caitlin Clark

Cunningham has also continued her defense of Clark in other ways. While not everyone liked how Cunningham reacted to Sheldon's initial foul against Clark, she was simply fulfilling her role on the team as an enforcer, and also making it clear that she isn't going to let other players push her teammates around. Cunningham isn't the first — and will certainly not be the last — WNBA player to assert herself on the court.

While speaking to reporters this weekend, Cunningham explained what she thinks refs could have done better. "I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a build-up for a couple years now of them just not, not protecting the star player in the WNBA," Cunningham said. "And so at the end of the day, I’m going to protect my teammates, that’s what I do."

Cunningham's conduct highlighted the hypocrisy of fans

Cunningham's foul on Sheldon isn't the first time fans of the WNBA have been shocked to learn women play aggressively and hard this season (see also: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's on-court dispute in mid-May, and Tina Charles pulling Reese's hair this week). It's a little difficult to understand why this fact remains shocking, considering we all still live in a world in which Diana Taurasi very much walks among us, and DT only retired from basketball this year (did you guys ever actually see her play?).

You could almost come away with one of two conclusions, maybe three: people still can't believe women can play aggressive basketball, people are just pretending they enjoyed the NBA of the 1980s and 1990s, or... a very loud but small group of people on the internet are stirring the pot for engagement and not much else, and everyone else is eating it up without a single second of critical analysis. As always, it's entirely possible the truth is the scariest of all: a combination of all three.