The day after the WNBA announced it is returning to Detroit as part of the league's ongoing expansion, Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham rained on the city's parade.
In an interview going viral, Cunningham called for the WNBA to "listen to your players" and doubted that her peers will want to play in Detroit.
"Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans?" said Cunningham, citing Miami, Nashville and Kansas City as better options. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there. ... Man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cincinnati."
Cunningham meant to say Cleveland, one of the five cities along with Detroit that was awarded a team. Detroit's team will open play in 2029, Cleveland's in 2028, after Portland and Toronto in 2026 and before Philadelphia in 2030.
The city of Detroit quickly fired back on X, noting that the Detroit Shock were the WNBA's No. 1 team in attendance for three straight seasons and set a league record during the 2003 Finals, before the team was sold and relocated after the death of former owner Bill Davidson in 2009.
The city's X account also pointed out that "more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning."