“Spinning straw into gold”: Fever fans react as Sophie Cunningham continues to rake in sponsorships at rapid rate after joining Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham went viral during a WNBA game when she got ejected from a game after standing up for her teammate Caitlin Clark. While she was fined $400 for the incident, Cunningham has since reaped the rewards of her sudden rise in popularity.

In her latest sponsored post, Cunningham endorsed the home camera brand, Ring, in which she used her on-court enforcer persona rooted in her flagrant foul on Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon.

“You guys know how serious I am about protecting my girls on the court,” Cunningham said in the advert. “But what is protecting my homecourt a.k.a my actual home is Ring.”

WNBA fans then lauded her for making the most of the play while using her teammate Clark as leverage to create more earnings for herself.

“Sophie is never gonna wanna leave Indy. She’s spinning straw into gold,” a fan wrote, sharing the advert on X.

Sarah Curran

@curran_sarah44

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give her some credit. she is loving her teammate and is amazing— i know it was not meant as a slight but sophie has got more than straw :)

CC Report

@cc22report

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She's like the prototype example of what is possible off the court just by being associated with Caitlin, that one act of defense has generated a million insta followers and now Ring ads? We're talking some intense financial change here for her, you love to see it

CCFC-

@sohali2012

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Sophie is a keeper. Sophie the enforcer.

Other fans wished Cunningham would remain teammates with Clark for the rest of their careers as they continue to buy into the Fever’s guard enforcer identity.

Jody Rye

@JodyRye1

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I hope she’s #CaitlinClark ‘s teammate for the remainder of their careers!

Lupita

@sjhall17

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gonna have to pry her off this team with a crowbar. She'll take the vet min if she has to and keep printing endorsements.

crazybusysportsmomma

@JessicaSte95583

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The entire W should learn from this bc they all could be making more money

Sophie Cunningham played for the Phoenix Suns in her first six seasons in the WNBA before joining the Fever last offseason. She signed a one-year $100,000 contract this year before going to unrestricted free agency next season.

Cunningham is putting up 5.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game this season. The Indiana Fever is currently the eighth seed with an 8-8 record.

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Sophie Cunningham addresses fight with Connecticut Sun after Caitlin Clark got hit

Sophie Cunningham's fight against the Connecticut Sun was rooted in protecting Fever star Caitlin Clark, according to the player herself.

Addressing the viral fight, Cunningham said her main motivation was to protect Clark after the referees failed to take action following numerous dirty plays in the game.

"I'm not focused on the extracurricular activities, and you know what, during that, it was just part of the game," the 28-year-old bench player said.

"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 protecting the star player of the WNBA. So, at the end of the day, I'm going to protect my teammates," Cunningham added.

Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye by Jacy Sheldon earlier in the game, before getting pushed by Marina Mabrey to the floor. At that time, Mabrey was called for a technical foul, while Sheldon was slapped with a flagrant foul penalty one before Sophie Cunningham's intervention.

The Fever player has since risen in popularity and has become a fan favorite since the incident.