8,910 fans inside Mohegan Sun Arena were left in stunned silence as Sophie Cunningham limped off the court in tears. A collision with Bria Hartley had gone very wrong. It was the kind of moment no one ever wants to see. Her sister Lindsey wasn’t about to stay quiet. She quickly fired off a post on X, blasting the officials for failing to protect players. But not everyone was on board, and the criticism made it clear. But you know the Fever guard and the fire she breathes.

Not long after Lindsey’s tweet, one fan fired back by posting a video of Sophie’s scuffle with Jacy Sheldon earlier this season. A moment that ended with her being ejected. Alongside the clip, they wrote, “‘Protect athletes’ shut up bit-h.” The post went viral online, garnering over 6,000 likes and more than 644,000 views. Many used it as “proof” that Sophie wasn’t exactly innocent when it came to playing rough.

Now Cunningham has a reply for the fan in her own tweet, saying, “…some of us were raised by the words of ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’ and some of us didn’t. ‘fafo’😘” 

It was a direct clapback to all the haters. And for her side of the story, that whole incident with Cunningham and Jacy Sheldon didn’t just come out of nowhere. Earlier in the game, Sheldon had poked Caitlin Clark in the eyes, which sparked a heated scuffle involving Clark, Sheldon, and Mabrey. Despite the scale, there were no ejections, something that even the broadcasters were baffled at. So now, if you know Sophie, you know that the self-proclaimed bodyguard of the Fever wasn’t going to let that slide!

Cunningham later admitted that moment was just her being there for her teammates. “I’m not focused on the extracurricular activities, and you know what, during that, it was just part of the game,” she 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 — that’s what I do, and I’m a team player.”

But this isn’t the first time Cunningham has been hit with the “dirty player” tag. It’s a label that’s followed her all the way back to her college days. Remember that heated clash with Azurá Stevens two years ago, when Cunningham was with the Mercury? After losing the ball, Stevens went on Twitter to call her out for taking an unnecessary shot at her. Moments like that have added fuel to the idea that Cunningham is too aggressive. You would definitely love it if she plays for your team…not so much if she plays against you.

Cunningham isn’t new to this kind of talk. She told SlamOnline last year that she has been hearing the “dirty player” stuff since her college days. “We beat South Carolina multiple years in a row and all of a sudden I’m the dirty player. Nah, I’m just out working. I’m working y’all’s a–, you know what I mean?”

She also admitted that she’s used to it by now, but makes it clear she doesn’t let the outside noise affect her. “I just know that I have a very tight circle. I lean on them quite a bit…For me, I just want to be the best teammate, I wanna be the best competitor [and] I wanna do whatever it takes for my team to win and all that other noise can just be squashed.”

Whether you love Sophie or can’t stand her, nobody likes to see a player go down like that. Sure, some fans are calling it “karma” for her rough style over the years, others note that Cunningham’s actions never caused injuries, but most agree the collision with Bria Hartley was just plain unfortunate. As of now, there’s still no official update on Cunningham’s condition. But one sports medicine doctor has already weighed in with his thoughts on what the injury might be.

Doctor gives his take on the Sophie Cunningham injury

Right after the game, sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer shared his thoughts on YouTube about what might have happened — and it wasn’t the most encouraging update. He pointed out three possible scenarios, with the first two being ACL and MCL injuries. Sadly, those have become way too common in women’s basketball lately. Just look at stars like JuJu Watkins and Georgia Amoore, who are both sidelined with similar setbacks.

But according to Dr. Sutterer, it’s less certain that Cunningham is dealing with an ACL or MCL tear. He believes there’s a real chance it could actually be a dislocated kneecap. The way she grabbed her knee made him lean toward that possibility. “Patella dislocation is definitely something that I think we have to keep in mind here because of the mechanism of that forced valgus impact from the outside pushing the knee inward, and the fact that she had her knee in this flexed position immediately is what you’re going to see in somebody who had a patellar instability event.”

It’s still unclear what kind of injury Cunningham has suffered. The MRI results should give a clear update soon. Until then, fans will be hoping for her quick recovery, especially since the Fever can’t afford to lose another key player after already being hit with three guard injuries. Stay tuned for more updates!