Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham didn't hold back this week when she addressed the WNBA's decision to exclude teammate Caitlin Clark from the league's official 30th anniversary promotional poster. Speaking on her digital broadcast Show Me Something, co-hosted by West Wilson, Cunningham called the move "a joke" and directed her frustration at Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and league executives.
"It's a joke, and that's why Cathy from the WNBA is getting so much heat on social media, because they're leaving out a legendary player, the best player to ever walk into the WNBA, on this poster," Cunningham said during the show. "Why are we putting random players on that list? I'm one of them. If they were smart, they would promote some of us to the max, but they don't."
The NIL Licensing Maze Behind the Snub
While fan outrage and Cunningham's sharp words painted the exclusion as a slight, the reality is more bureaucratic. The commemorative poster, produced by manufacturer WinCraft, features icons like Lisa Leslie and modern stars like Angel Reese, but Clark's absence is not due to personal animosity or league bias. Instead, it's a legal hurdle tied to Clark's massive $28 million endorsement deal with Nike.
Under that contract, Nike controls Clark's global image rights, including her likeness for third-party merchandise. WinCraft lacked the explicit clearance to use Clark's face on the anniversary poster. While baseline licensing agreements allow the use of her name and jersey number, they don't automatically extend to facial likeness on commercial products. This corporate matrix has sparked broader conversations about how the WNBA navigates NIL restrictions for its biggest draw.
Cunningham's critique, however, goes beyond the legal technicalities. She sees the omission as a symptom of a larger marketing failure by the league. "They're leaving out a legendary player," she emphasized, pointing to Clark's historic on-court impact. Over her first 70 regular-season games, Clark has averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game, earning consecutive All-WNBA First Team honors and setting the league's single-season assist record at 337. Those numbers, paired with unprecedented surges in TV ratings and arena attendance, make her the face of the league's economic growth.
Cunningham's willingness to speak out is consistent with her outspoken personality. Earlier this year, she made headlines when the White House used her viral WNBA meme in a political video, and she's been open about her own experiences with fame, including a stalker who was arrested after months of threats. Her defense of Clark also comes amid reports of tension between the two players earlier in the season, making this public show of solidarity all the more notable.
For now, the poster controversy has reignited debates about how the WNBA markets its talent. Cunningham's message is clear: the league needs to prioritize its stars, especially those driving the sport's explosive growth. "If they were smart, they would promote some of us to the max," she said. "But they don't."
