Sophie Cunningham reacts to sex toy incident at Fever game
Sophie Cunningham did not anticipate a close encounter with a sex toy in Tuesday’s Fever game after voicing her displeasure over unruly fan behavior days before.
Shortly after a green dildo appeared to nick her ankle in Tuesday’s 100-91 loss to the Sparks in Los Angeles, the Fever guard, 28, took to her Instagram Stories to digest what had just transpired.
“No way that thing actually hit me,” Cunningham told her 1.2 million followers. “I knew I shouldn’t have tweeted that.”
In the wake of sex toys being tossed onto the court in two WNBA games last week, Cunningham — in her first season with Indiana following a January trade with the Mercury — posted Friday on X: “Stop throwing dildos on the court … you’re going to hurt one of us.”
Hours after her own incident, Cunningham followed up with, “This did NOT age well.”
Cunningham appeared to collide with the object in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game at Crypto.com Arena as she readied for an inbounds pass.
Sparks All-Star Kelsey Plum then kicked the item off the court.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s dumb,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said afterward, per Sports Illustrated. “It’s stupid. It’s also dangerous and player safety is No. 1. Respecting the game, all those things. I think it’s really stupid.”
The Fever and Sparks weren’t the only teams whose games were interrupted by a sex toy Tuesday.
Across the country at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, an object was allegedly tossed during the Liberty-Wings clash but failed to hit the court, according to fan footage.
The Liberty, which topped the Wings, 85-76, declined comment.
“I think you just have to continuously prioritize the players, because it’s obviously safety, but also just so immature to me, like, I just hate that that’s being attached to our brand and our name,” Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison told The Post on Sunday, two days before the incident. “This is like, let’s be professional here. I get the jokes, and things can be funny, but it just gets to a point.”
The WNBA and law enforcement are not taking this alarming trend lightly, with the league confirming Saturday that a fan had been arrested for hurling a sex toy on the court during a Dream-Valkyries game on July 29.
“The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league. Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans,” the WNBA said in a statement.
“In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
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