Sophie Cunningham cashes in on viral Sun altercation involving Caitlin Clark by landing deal with billion-dollar security giant

The last time the Indiana Fever played the Connecticut Sun, the game turned ugly with an altercation involving Jacy Sheldon, Caitlin Clark and Marina Mabrey. Clark confronted Sheldon after being poked in the eye during a play. Mabrey then came from behind and seemingly pushed Clark onto the court.

Fast forward to the fourth quarter, Sophie Cunningham almost slammed Sheldon on the court as the Sun star drove to the basket for a layup. Although she was ejected from the game, Cunningham's message was loud and clear for opponents roughing up her teammate.

Cunningham has often taken the role of an "enforcer" and a "protector" of her team, which provided her the perfect segue to feature in a security camera commercial.

On Sunday, the Fever star announced her newest deal with the billion-dollar security camera company, Ring. She posted an ad video on her Instagram handle as well.

"On the court, I protect my team. At home, @ring protects me. 💙 #ad," Cunningham wrote in the caption.

"In light of recent events, you guys know how serious I am about protecting my girls on the court," she said in the video. "But what's protecting my home court, aka, my actual home? The obvious choice is Ring."

Cunningham has also been vocal about the necessity of protecting Clark against hard fouls. She has constantly called out officials for not protecting her Fever teammate enough during dangerous plays.

After her altercation with Sheldon, Cunningham's jersey was sold out within days.

Cunningham is a big part of Fever's tough character, and her popularity has skyrocketed among Indiana fans recently. Perhaps her deal with Ring is only the start of many more things to come.

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Aces coach Becky Hammon defends Sophie Cunningham after petition to ban her from the league

After Sophie Cunningham's hard foul on Jacy Sheldon, Sophie Cunningham also received a lot of hate. There was even a petition circulating, asking people to sign in support of banning the Fever player from the league.

Amid all the chatter, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon stepped in to defend Cunningham. In a conversation with The Mirror US, Hammon started by saying that getting physical was necessary to defend Caitlin Clark, but it got out of hand eventually.

"She's a beast ... and she's just going to continue to get better. But she's a player who you have to be physical with. If you just follow her around, she's going to cook you for dinner," Hammon said of Clark.

"But at the end of the day ... there's too much bumping, too much grabbing, too much fouling that's not getting called," she added. "And people are tired of getting hit."

When asked about Cunningham's actions, Hammon argued in favor of the Fever player defending her teammate.

"I think teammates should step in and defend Caitlin," she said.

In her first season with the Fever, Cunningham is averaging 5.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals.