Fever's Sophie Cunningham no fan of WNBA's plans to add expansion teams in Cleveland and Detroit
On Tuesday, a prominent player questioned the league's choice of markets.
Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham raised her concerns during the shootaround before the Fever's 74-59 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final.
The league already had plans to add franchises in Toronto and Portland next season. The three new teams will play in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030), giving the league 18 teams.
Cunningham, a seven-year veteran who spent her first six years in Phoenix, expressed skepticism over the latest choices, two of which — Cleveland and Detroit — have already seen WNBA franchises come and go.
'You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I do think that Miami would have been a great (location). Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity,' said Cunningham, who played in college at Missouri.
'I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast. I think that that's also another thing. It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).'
Cunningham scored 13 points to help the Fever, who were missing star Caitlin Clark because of a groin injury, beat the league-best Lynx. She did not speak to reporters after the game.
All five expansion franchises will play in markets with NBA teams, and Fever coach Stephanie White said she sees that as an advantage.
'I think it's a positive thing,' White said. 'Having built-in fan bases, shared expenses … and the way that we're filling NBA arenas. We are at a point where we're outgrowing some of the smaller, independent ones, and opportunities to play in those arenas is big-time.'
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