Sophie Cunningham has never been one to shy away from confrontation on the court. The Indiana Fever guard has built a reputation as a tough competitor, someone who welcomes physical play, stands up for her teammates, and is daring enough to get under an opponent’s skin. During the Fever’s matchup against the Phoenix Mercury, instead of a hard foul, it was a simple finger point that became a viral moment.
Sophie Cunningham’s Taunting Reached Brittany Mahomes
The particular incident happened during Indiana’s 86-77 win over Phoenix. Tempers had already started to fray after Mercury veteran DeWanna Bonner got into a brief confrontation with Fever athlete Caitlin Clark. Officials assessed Clark a technical foul following the exchange, but Cunningham did not think the situation was fair.
She walked toward the officials to question why Bonner hadn’t also received a technical foul as well. Now, according to Cunningham on the “Show Me Something” podcast, it was at that point that Bonner turned her attention toward Cunningham and told her not to point. Well, anyone who has been watching Cunningham knows she did exactly the opposite.
Without saying another word, she simply stood there pointing directly at Bonner for what fans later calculated was 22 seconds.
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The gesture frustrated Bonner even more, with teammates eventually stepping in to keep the situation from escalating.
As the gesture went viral, Cunningham herself shared the now-famous photo of her pointing at Bonner on her Instagram account, leaning into the joke. The post had numerous comments, one of which was from Brittany Mahomes, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
She wrote two words, “This post🤣👏🏼🔥”
As the online talks about what led to the confrontation continued, Cunningham discussed it on the podcast. She said, “DB was the one that really did something extra and then Caitlin got the tech. So, I walked out there and I was really talking to the ref… I was like, ‘I know Caitlin got a tech, but why she didn’t get one? Because if Caitlin’s gonna get one, then she should get one. It shouldn’t be one or the other.’”
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Looking back, Cunningham alluded that she wanted to drive Bonner up the wall.
“She was like, ‘Don’t you point at me.’ I was like, ‘Oh, shouldn’t have said that.’ And I didn’t say a word,” Sophie added, recreating the viral finger-pointing moment. “So stupid, like that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Everyone was like, ‘That is so dumb.’ I think it’s dumb, but it’s (expletive) her off, and I couldn’t help myself. She was losing her (expletive), and all I was doing was literally pointing.”
Bonner and Cunningham also share a history. The two previously played together with the Mercury, then briefly became teammates again with Indiana in 2025, before Bonner rejoined the Mercury.
