Donovan Mitchell and Others Slam Sophie Cunningham for Dissing WNBA Expansion Cities

Sophie Cunningham and her WNBA peers will see a total of five additional teams join the league over the next five years.

Donovan Mitchell and Others Slam Sophie Cunningham for Dissing WNBA Expansion Cities

Donovan Mitchell and Sophie Cunningham (Image via FirstSportz)

Sophie Cunningham has watched the WNBA grow at an absurdly fast pace since Caitlin Clark came in. The league has already added three teams and now has confirmed three more will join by 2030. Such plans will help spread the women’s game across the country.

Except for the gap year of 2027, the next three teams, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, will start playing a year after another. This means in five years, the league will have 18 total teams and at least an additional 60 players compared to this year.

Most of the expansion teams are in the East, which means there is a possibility that the league adds two more teams from the West to round up to 20. That will give the league its perfect balance of 10 teams from either conference.

All three teams expected to join are affiliated with NBA franchises. That means they will have an advantage when it comes to player facilities and other perks. However, Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham believes that is not enough.

You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play? Where are they gonna get excited to play and draw fans? I’m not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).

Sophie Cunningham said to reporters

The 28-year-old guard does not believe players want to go and play in Cleveland or Detroit. She talked about how the league could have accepted the bids from Miami or Kansas City, which are places that players would love to play and have passionate fans.

Sophie Cunningham gets some heat for expansion take

As soon as this interview went online, it quickly gathered steam. Cleveland Cavaliers stars Donovan Mitchell and Tristan Thompson pointed out that their place of work was indeed exciting for any player to be in.

On top of that, owner Dan Gilbert slammed Sophie Cunningham for disrespecting her Midwest sisters. He believes she has not been to either Cleveland or Detroit to be critical. Following him, the official city accounts of both the new expansion cities also clapped back at the Fever star.

Soon, other athletes who play in either of those cities, celebrities, and some in the media pointed out that the Missouri native was ill-informed about her opinion of those cities. Cunningham is a celebrated star in the Midwest.

But now, it seems Midwesterners did not appreciate how she seemingly dissed their hometowns, just to want to play in more marketable places. Even though it is the easiest way to success, the Golden State Valkyries, the league’s newest expansion team, have proved otherwise.

Valkyries become $500 million franchise in 1st year in WNBA

The Golden State Valkyries started playing this season and are now on a winning run that places them in the playoff standings. A major part of their success so far can be attributed to the packed crowds at Chase Center that cheer for them.

Golden State Valkyries fans
Golden State Valkyries fans (Image via 95.7 The Game/X)

Opposition players have talked about how Valkyries fans can get loud on every single score or stop. Admittedly, San Francisco is one of the most marketable places to run a sports franchise. However, the Valkyries did a better job at building up the hype last year.

This year, that tactic worked as those passionate fans supported the role players who make up their team. As per Sportico, it has helped to generate massive revenue streams for the franchise, which has helped them soar in valuation up to $500 million.

If anything, this method should be the blueprint that future expansion teams can follow. Once they build up a passionate fan base, the lives of everyone become easier. Not only the owners, but the players also benefit.

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