"The hands kill me": Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull react to Fever coach getting the spank celebration on special day

Indiana Fever guards Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull reacted as the team showed assistant coach Karima Christmas-Kelly love on her birthday on Thursday with a playful celebration.

The Indiana Fever shared a clip of the celebration on Instagram. In the video, the Fever’s players and staff members lined up in a parallel formation as their assistant coach moved through the middle. The players and staff members lightly tapped Christmas-Kelly as she ran through the formation.

Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull reacted to the video shared on Instagram. Cunningham noted Christmas-Kelly’s husband, Austin Kelly’s, involvement in the celebration, while Hull pointed to her assistant coach’s hands in the video.

“The hands kill me,” Hull wrote.

“AK had to hop in on this one huh?” Cunningham wrote.

Cunningham and Hull’s comments on Instagram

Karima Christmas-Kelly spent 10 seasons in the WNBA from 2011 to 2020, playing for the Tulsa Shock, Indiana Fever, Washington Mystics, Dallas Wings and Minnesota Lynx.

She played 243 games in the league, averaging 7.9 points and 3.7 rebounds while primarily coming off the bench. She has one WNBA championship to her name, which she won with the Fever in 2012.

Indiana Fever must navigate the 2025 WNBA playoffs without Sophie Cunningham, Caitlin Clark and more

The Indiana Fever (24-20) finished the regular season in sixth and will face the Atlanta Dream (30-14) in the first round of the playoffs, tipping off on Sunday. While the Fever have done well to qualify for the postseason, it remains to be seen how far the team will advance.

Indiana will be without guards Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald for the entirety of the playoffs. Moreover, Chloe Bibby is also sidelined with a knee injury. The Dream, meanwhile, have no significant injuries to report.

With the team’s backcourt rotation stretched this thin, many expect it to be eliminated early. But Indiana has struggled with injuries throughout the season and still managed to beat the Dream in two of four regular-season games. More of the same could make the Dream-Fever series an exciting matchup.

The Fever will take the court at Gateway Center for Game 1 of the 2025 playoffs on Sunday. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. ET.

About the author

Sameer is an esports and gaming journalist at Sportskeeda who covers a diverse range of topics. He is currently pursuing a BSc degree from BITS, but his love for video games pushed him to pursue a gaming journalism career. He relies on diligent research and fact-checking to deliver top-notch content. He has previously worked in the hospitality sector with the Oberoi Group.

Sameer’s gaming journey began with Rockstar Games’ GTA franchise, specifically
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. He strongly prefers multiplayer games, with FPS being his favorite genre, and has devoted 6K+ hours to CS:GO! However, he also dabbles in open-world, story-based games from time to time. Solo RPGs like Horizon Forbidden West hold a soft spot in his heart, and he would readily drop in it given a Jumanji-type scenario.

Sameer makes sure to follow Counter-Strike and Valorant esports tournaments, as he believes that watching a game being played at the highest level can be highly educational. He derives inspiration from Tarik's meteoric rise to become one of the biggest FPS streamers in the world following the release of Valorant.

Outside of work, you can find Sameer playing football or cheering for FC Barcelona. He also likes to read and write poetry.

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Edited by Sameer Khan