Bria Hartley’s Reaction to Sophie Cunningham’s Injury Infuriates Jason Whitlock and Fans

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was injured in their game against the Connecticut Sun after Bria Hartley fell on her knee.

Bria Hartley’s Reaction to Sophie Cunningham’s Injury Infuriates Jason Whitlock and Fans

Jason Whitlock and fans tear into Bria Hartley for causing Sophie Cunningham's injury (Image via FirstSportz)

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Throughout the injury-riddled season, Sophie Cunningham has become an increasingly important part of the Indiana Fever. She has used her skills and experience to help keep the team afloat.

After they lost both their backup point guards, it was the Missouri native who was tasked with leading the playmaking. She has done a decent job so far as the Fever gets Odyssey Sims ready to take on a bigger load.

Even if Sims takes over, they need Cunningham’s cutting, shooting, and tenacious defense to give them a chance at winning games. Now, they are still waiting to see if they can continue fielding the recently turned 29-year-old.

In the 2nd quarter of their game against the Connecticut Sun, Bria Hartley drove to the rim. When she noticed that both Kelsey Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham were about to stop her from scoring, Hartley leaned into the former and tried to pass the ball out to the perimeter.

Her lean, an attempt to draw a contact foul, did not work as Mitchell understood the assignment and pulled herself away from having any contact with the Sun guard.

The problem with that last-second pull was that Bria Hartley lost her balance and fell onto Cunningham’s right leg. The Sun guard’s full weight fell on the Fever guard’s knee.

The 29-year-old collapsed to the floor, clutching her knee and writhing in pain. Teammates and team staff attended to her and had to help her off the court. Cunningham is awaiting the results of an MRI, which should indicate if she can continue to play.

Jason Whitlock and fans tear into Bria Hartley

Ever since she defended Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham has become a fan favorite. Her social media followers have skyrocketed, and brands are courting her every single day.

Bria Hartley smiling
Bria Hartley smiling (Image via WNBA/X)

Along with this came visibility, as her sister and mother’s tweets went viral on X. Where her sister called out the WNBA for failing to control its players, their mother was more direct. She pinned the blame on Bria Hartley for her reckless playing style.

The tweet was deleted after a few minutes, but the message spread like wildfire. Then, fans managed to get hold of a picture of the Sun guard smiling while the Fever guard was writhing in pain.

This led fans to slam Hartley, with controversial analyst Jason Whitlock leading the charge. Check out examples of those angry social media reactions below:

Fans might be enraged as this was after a string of other incidents involving Bria Hartley. Therefore, fans claim she is doing whatever is necessary to get her way. But they do not seem to know that the Sun guard and Sophie Cunningham were teammates on the Phoenix Mercury.

There are pictures of them embracing each other after games and sharing a smile or two. Fans might want to paint this as intentional, but a doctor does not believe so.

Doctor does not believe Bria Hartley intentionally tried to injure Sophie Cunningham

After this injury occurred, medical influencer Dr. Brian Sutterer (MD) took to his YouTube page to examine game footage and understand what could have happened.

I will be honest, watching this video replay, there’s nothing to me that screams intentional here. To me, this is a player who’s coming to drive. They stop, as we often see with players driving into the lane, the momentum carries them forward. She doesn’t turn her body to then fall more into Cunningham.

Dr. Brian Sutterer said

He believes that Bria Hartley was off balance and falling before she even made contact with Sophie Cunningham’s knee. Even if she tried, she did not have the legs underneath her to avoid crashing into her former teammate.

Dr. Sutterer believes the Fever guard could face anything from a bruise to an MCL injury, to a patella dislocation, or an outright ACL tear. Until the results of the MRI come out, Cunningham will not know her fate.

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