Sophie Cunningham is calling a spade a spade when it comes to Paige Bueckers’ whistle.
Cunningham and the Indiana Fever played Bueckers and the Dallas Wings on Tuesday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. In the end, it was the Wings who pulled out the narrow 81-80 victory thanks to 22 points from Maddy Siegrist, 20 points from Li Yueru, and 16 points from Bueckers.
Speaking Wednesday on her “Show Me Something” podcast, Cunningham sounded off about what she believed was a favorable whistle for the rookie Bueckers during the game.
“I love Paige to death,” said Cunningham. “Do not get me wrong. I think she’s a helluva player and would love to play with her one day. But those refs were giving her every freakin’ whistle last night. Like, you literally couldn’t touch her. That s–t is so annoying to me. And if you’re gonna do that, then give it to our guards. I just hate the inconsistency.
“We know she’s a good rookie, and she’s gonna get some whistles,” Cunningham continued. “But like, to get the treatment she got last night was crazy. Crazy. She’s gonna be one of those players, she’s already gonna be a GOAT, she’s gonna be a Hall of Famer. Everyone know it. She’s a freakin’ helluva player. But getting some of those whistles already? Oh my. I couldn’t.”
Bueckers only got four total free throws against the Fever and struggled overall from the field, shooting 6/19. But she was indeed drawing plenty of fouls on the Indiana players, including Cunningham and Lexie Hull, both of whom had four fouls each on the day.
Cunningham is becoming known on her podcast for her unfiltered criticisms of the WNBA refereeing, and she was even already fined by the league over one such podcast criticism. Nevertheless, it does not sound like Cunningham is at all detered by the fines as it appears that she will continue to speak her mind.
As for Bueckers, her supposedly favorable whistle has already come up in other contexts before. During a different game this month, an opponent openly criticized a questionable foul drawn by Bueckers (which then led to Bueckers mocking her right back).
