Sports Illustrated has amended the headline of a story reporting on a hard foul involving Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham, following a significant social media backlash. The initial headline, "Sophie Cunningham Got a Bitter Taste of Karma After Drawing Flagrant Foul in Fever-Sky," was criticized for implying the foul was deserved, particularly given Cunningham's recent public statements on transgender athletes in women's sports.
The incident occurred during the Indiana Fever's 90-86 victory over the Chicago Sky on Saturday. With two minutes left in the first quarter, Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected for a hard foul on Cunningham, which left the Fever guard with a bloody mouth.
Sports Illustrated's original story suggested the foul was "karma" stemming from a Flagrant 2 foul Cunningham committed against Jacy Sheldon during the 2025 WNBA season. Cunningham acknowledged that her previous foul was deserving of ejection, stating, "Last year I did the same thing, and I got kicked out, as I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason to even play that card."
Following the ejection, Carrington posted "WHITE PRIVILEGE" on her Instagram Threads account, tagging the Fever. When questioned about the post, Cunningham stated, "I think the league is taking care of that. I mean, this has nothing to do with race."
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White defended Carrington's intensity but agreed with the foul call. "Yeah, I mean, look, it was a hard foul. I don't think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did. But it did happen and I thought it was the right call," White said, while declining to comment on Carrington's "white privilege" post.
Sports Illustrated later updated the article's headline to "Sophie Cunningham's Enforcer Role Gets Reversed Onto Her With Hard Foul in Fever-Sky."