Sophie Cunningham shows her love for Caitlin Clark with personalized arrival outfit... hours after slamming refs
The 28-year-old was thrust into the spotlight this week after she avenged her Fever teammate by tackling Connecticut Sun star Jacy Sheldon to the court on Tuesday night.
Five days later, and the Fever are back in action in Sin City, where Cunningham proved yet again whose side she's on.
The 6-foot-1 basketball star opted to give a nod to Clark following the contentious week of controversy, arriving at T-Mobile Area in a baggy white 'Tres Leches' t-shirt.
The shirt, sold by Barstool Sports, is a nod to Cunningham, Clark and teammate Lexie Hull and the moniker their trio has earned.
Cunningham arrived in Indiana during the offseason after being traded by the Phoenix Mercury and appeared to immediately bond with Clark and Hull, cementing their posse.
Fans picked up on their friendship and began dubbing them the 'Tres Leches,' which means the Three Milks.
Cunningham's outfit choice comes just hours after she hit out at the WNBA referees in an attempt to justify her actions during Tuesday's clash against the Sun.
'I'm not focused on the extracurricular activities,' Cunningham said at practice on Saturday. 'And you know what, during that, it was just part of the game. I think the refs had a lot to do with that.
'It was a buildup for a couple of years now of them just not protecting the star player of the WNBA. And 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, so it's all good.'
Fever coach Stephanie White echoed that sentiment, saying the refs lacked 'control' of the game and that 'we knew this was gonna happen' in the first quarter.
Clark was prodded in the eye by Connecticut's Sheldon, who had previously been caught in a heated exchange with the Fever guard, before being slammed to the floor by Marina Mabrey in a violent moment that sparked outrage.
Mabrey escaped with a mere technical, while Sheldon was handed a flagrant 1. But Cunningham wasn't letting it slide.
With 46.1 seconds remaining in the game, Cunningham wrapped her arms around Sun guard Sheldon's head and pulled her to the ground in an act of revenge after her foul on Clark.
Footage that emerged after the game showed that Cunningham also tried to get involved in the initial scuffle involving Clark.
In the video, Cunningham - who was out of the game at the time - could be seen briefly trying to run towards the fracas before being intercepted by assistant coach Austin Kelly.
Kelly then held onto Cunningham for several seconds before the incident died down.
Cunningham received a fine from the league after the game, while Mabrey's technical foul (assessed for her shove on Clark) was also upgraded to a flagrant two foul, which came with a corresponding fine for such an infraction.
The tension between Clark and Sheldon had been building from earlier in the game, as the pair found themselves in a feisty exchange, with the Fever star firing off a volatile message after Sheldon appeared to say: 'You can't do that.'
'I can do whatever the f*** I want to do,' Clark said to Sheldon before shoving her away. Mabrey also stepped in to give a little shove to Clark, though things didn't escalate further in that situation.
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