NEED TO KNOW
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham said she doesn’t believe Bria Hartley intended to injure her during a recent game
Cunningham suffered an injury to her knee and will miss the remainder of the WNBA season after colliding with Hartley
The Fever guard defended Hartley’s “basketball play” and said she is “actually really good friends” with the Sun guard
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham says there’s no bad blood between her and Bria Hartley of the Connecticut Sun.
After the Fever announced Cunningham, 29, will miss the remainder of the 2025 WNBA season because of a knee injury she suffered during a collision with Hartley, 32, fans began questioning Hartley’s intentions on the play.
Cunningham addressed the incident on the Wednesday, Aug. 20 episode of her new podcast, Show Me Something, explaining that she doesn’t believe Hartley wanted to hurt her. “I know Bria and I’m actually really good friends with Bria,” Cunningham shared.
The Fever star, who recently made headlines for arguing that her teammate Caitlin Clark is the face of the WNBA, said she thinks there “was no ill intent” and called Hartley’s move “a basketball play,” explaining, “I was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. She fell. There was no way she would go in there and intentionally try to hurt me.”
Brian Fluharty/Getty
Sophie Cunningham and Bria Hartley on July 15, 2025 in Boston, Mass.
Cunningham, whose mom called Hartley “disgruntled” and “mean” in a since-deleted post on X after the game, added that she has “nothing but love for Bria.”
Cunningham also revealed that she spoke to her mom about the post she wrote on X. “I even told my mom, because she tweeted something, and I was like, ‘No, mom! I get it, but I promise you that Bria and I are super cool and she would never try to hurt me.’”
The Fever star went on to say she does believe “there are some girls” she thinks “might” have that intention to hurt her during a play, but not Hartley. “I hope people stop giving Bria some heat because I don’t think she meant to do that at all,” Cunningham said on her podcast.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Fever announced that Cunningham will miss the rest of the season due to her collision with Hartly and the resulting injury.
The team said they signed guard Shey Peddy to a seven-day hardship contract “in a corresponding move” to deal with Cunningham’s injury. Star Fever player Caitlin Clark is also still dealing with a groin injury and has missed 22 games this season.
Read the original article on People
