The Indiana Fever beat the Washington Mystics 78-76 on Monday night thanks to a Herculean final shot from Caitlin Clark. The face of the WNBA sank a three-pointer with just 1.2 seconds left to secure the victory.
Many fans speculated, based on the action, that the play wasn’t actually designed to go to Clark, but rather to guard Kelsey Mitchell. In a shocking move, Fever reserve Sophie Cunningham revealed just as much in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
Fans on social media were in disbelief that Cunningham went so public with the revelation.
“Naaaah any and all BS is acceptable over there,” one fan posted on X. “That’s the Culture they building.”
“If they truly went rogue on that last play and players on the team are laughing about this picture, it may show the players are really over the coaching staff just like the fans are,” someone else added.
“Looks like coach has lost the locker room,” one fan posted.
Lexie Hull corroborated that the Fever improvised on a radio appearance.
“We were trying to draw a foul there,” Hull said. “I think Caitlin’s a great basketball player. She made a read. Sophie was able to deliver a perfect pass to her. She knocked it down when it mattered. I can’t say that’s exactly what we drew up, but it worked. So we’ll take it any day of the week.”
Sophie must agree with Mychal Thompson
Ironically, two-time NBA Champion Mychal Thompson spoke before the game about how he felt the Fever were misusing Clark.
“Never seen this in any sport,” Thompson said of the Fever running a system that doesn’t appear to accentuate Clark’s strengths. “It’d be like taking the serve away from Serena Williams. A coach telling her, no, I don’t like that big serve you have. So let’s have a more, more traditional serve, one that’s not as hard. And it’s like taking a bat out of Ohtani’s hands and turning him into a single-sitter.
“It’s like taking the second-best lineman in the history of football next to Ball State’s Jason Whitlock, the late, great Larry Allen from the Cowboys, and turning him into a long snapper. They’ve taken away Caitlin’s superpowers.”
On Monday night, Cunningham must’ve agreed with Thompson’s assessment.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.