"Monica McNutt is a disgrace": Fever fans express fury at ESPN analyst over controversial take on Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham

The Indiana Fever's Commissioner's Cup game against the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday had its fair share of controversy. Fever star guard Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham were both at the center of the controversy that ignited responses from fans and media members.

On Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Monica McNutt had her say on the issue.

"I'm okay with it," McNutt said of how Marina Mabrey's shove on Clark was handled. "I think you've got to look at the history, right? ... There's history there (between Clark and Jacy Sheldon). I'm not saying necessarily history in terms of it being nasty but you get a little scrum here, each teammate comes to their other teammate's rescue.

"I'm okay with competition. I didn't like the play by Sophie Cunningham. I thought the teammates coming to their respective teammates in the first little scrum was okay. I did not like the play by Cunningham."

While McNutt was entitled to her take, Fever fans took issue with her comments. One fan on X called her out.

autumn leigh ⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟

@ninjie89

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Monica McNutt is a disgrace to women’s basketball. How can you on live tv say that what mabrey and Sheldon did to cc was just game and ok and called correctly but what Sophie did was uncalled for. What happened w Sophie only did because the reffs didn’t handle anything right

Sunny Days ☀️

@Sunny083193

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Apparently, Monica McNutt defended the fouls against cc but went against what Sophie did. Of course. The majority of these black women in the media as well as fans are a joke. They need to just be removed entirely from this space

Milly

@DayDreamThis

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ESPN covered the Fever/Sun game altercation & completely flopped it. Stephanie White's post game was never uttered on the show, Monica McNutt led the show saying it's people not comfortable with watching physicality. That game was about WNBA Officials not doing their job properly

More fans reacted to her take.

Jake From State Farm

@Jakexx25

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So Monica McNutt from Get Up was okay with the eye poke and absolute blind side hit on Caitlin Clark but didn't agree with the Sophie Cunningham hard foul (which remind you was in the play of basketball)....

Makes sense...🤦‍♂️

billy mays

@girthquake990

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There’s no way ESPN is serious with Monica mcnutt

TienPiece

@Tien0409

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Another trash take by Monica McNutt job. 🤡 okay with an eye poke and a blindside but not ok with @sophaller The look on JS face afterward and proceeds to come up on CC.

Linda Taylor

@LT3aylor3

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So, Monica McNutt believes the ONLY player who should have been ejected last night was SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM? Typical ESPN political bull crap.

During the game, Clark and Sheldon got into it in the second quarter after Clark gave Sheldon a light push. Sheldon retaliated by poking Clark in the face, and Clark shoved Sheldon in response.

Later, Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to the floor. This sparked an on-court altercation in which Mabrey received a technical foul, while Clark and Tina Charles got offsetting technicals. Sheldon was hit with a flagrant 1 foul.

As for Cunningham, she committed a hard foul on Sheldon. She then grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the court in retaliation for earlier incidents involving Clark.

This led to a scrum, which resulted in Cunningham, Sheldon and Sun guard Lindsay Allen being ejected from the game. The incident occurred late in the fourth quarter, with the Indiana Fever leading 87-70.

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No player to be suspended after Fever-Sun brawl, league says

The WNBA won’t suspend players after the Indiana Fever-Connecticut Sun game on Tuesday, which witnessed a brawl, the league said to ESPN on Wednesday.

After the game, the staff and players of both teams criticized the officials. Indiana coach Stephanie White was highly critical in her comments and won’t get reprimanded.

Indiana would hope to continue its winning streak against the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday. The Sun would aim to bounce back to a win when they take on the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday.