Phoenix Mercury Star Sophie Cunningham Facing Major Backlash Over “Racially Insensitive” Team Photo

Sophie Cunningham (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Over the past year, Sophie Cunningham has become well known by fans, mostly for the outfits she wore before games and for her unproven stance that she might support Donald Trump.

The Phoenix Mercury guard is once again going viral for all the wrong reasons, this time because of a team picture with her teammates.

During the league’s offseason, Phoenix carried out a shoot with three of their players to build some excitement for the 2025 season.

Their marketing included guards Kahleah Copper, Sophie Cunningham, and Natasha Cloud. All the girls posed together in wacky pictures, and everybody wore matching black roll-neck sweaters, light blue jeans, and white socks.

Unfortunately, there was one picture that upset a ton of people online and has them being called out for being racially insensitive.

The photo in question shows Cunningham seated on Copper as her African American teammate lays on the floor with her feet up.

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One viral response took aim at Sophie Cunningham as it read, “There is not a situation on this earth where a white woman should be sitting on a Black Woman like a piece of furniture,” one person wrote on X.

Another person wrote, “The ancestors are rolling in their graves because what is that 1st photo?!

Another fan asked for the Mercury to be canceled for not deleting the picture, saying, “The public outrage should’ve been enough for them to reconsider, but their standing on it… Phoenix mercury y’all supposed to try and gain a following, but now it’s making a mockery of the blk athletes. Cancel them too.”

Fortunately, an account on X showed off the other pictures from that shoot:

Sophie Cunningham Just Plays Her Game And Never Responds To Backlash

Sophie Cunningham has made plenty of headlines this season because of her fashion.

The Phoenix Mercury guard has also been talked about on social media due to her political views.

Some WNBA fans are convinced that Cunningham supports Donald Trump.

She has never spoken out about it, whether she does or not.

Instead, she let her playing do the talking. The 6-foot-1 guard averaged 8.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 37.8% from beyond the arc.