Fever's Sophie Cunningham weighs in on Aces' A'ja Wilson-fan incident - USA Today
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham shared her thoughts about A'ja Wilson's altercation with a fan at Gainbridge Fieldhouse during Game 2 of the first round of the WNBA playoffs.
The Las Vegas Aces MVP confronted a fan who stood up from his seat near the baseline. The fan stepped toward and pointed at Wilson after she was fouled by Cunningham. Wilson received a technical for approaching the fan, who escorted out of his seat but was allowed to return after the Fever determined there was no violation of the fan code of conduct.
"We yell from the rooftops that we want equality, that we want to be treated like men ... and we deserve all these things, and we do. We do deserve it, right?" Cunningham asked on her podcast "No Hesitation."But if you're asking for all these fans to come and you have new fans who are real sports fans, and they come and do something that a sports fan would probably do if you're on the opposing team. Why?
"And then we're gonna go for them for just pointing, saying that's your foul. Like, grow up. What are we doing?"
Cunningham went on to question whether Wilson should have been suspended for the confrontation. Page 44 of the WNBA rulebook says, “A player, coach or trainer must be ejected for: … Deliberately entering the stands other than as a continuance of play."
Page 76 of the rulebook says, “Any coach, player, or trainer who deliberately enters the spectator stands during the game will be automatically ejected and the incident reported via e-mail to the Commissioner. Entering the stands to keep a ball in play by a player or the momentum which carries the player into the stands is not considered deliberate. The first row of seats is considered the beginning of the stands.”
Following an in-game review, the on-court game officials determined A’ja Wilson was in the court area – what is known as a player escape lane – adjacent to the stanchion rather than the stands. Based on that determination, the officials concluded there was no cause for an ejection.
"That could have cost for suspension, but she's the LeBron James of our league, and so, of course, they're not gonna suspend her," Cunningham said. "So I'm not even gonna get into that. But, she should have been, you know, something should have happened there. The two people who came off the bench onto the court, that should have happened. I think there's definitely a double standard."
Cunningham did say she and the Fever wanted to play the Aces with Wilson in the lineup.
"Of course, we wanted her to play. ... That makes good basketball and I don't think it would have been if we would have won and she wouldn't have been there, I don't think it would have been fair," Cunningham said. "We would have gotten a lot of backlash from that. But I think, for someone pointing and saying that the foul was on you, like, girl up."
