Fever's Sophie Cunningham responds to backlash over comments about Cleveland, Detroit as WNBA expansion sites

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham faced criticism for comments about the WNBA choosing Cleveland and Detroit as two of its next markets for expansion The league revealed that those two cities and Philadelphia will be getting WNBA teams by the end of in an announcement earlier this week prompting Cunningham to question whether players demanded those cities to be chosen for expansion I don t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cleveland Cunningham narrated reporters on July CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COMCunningham clarified her comments while speaking to reporters on Thursday and defended blue-collar working people associated with Cleveland and Detroit First of all I know the history of the WNBA I know that both of those cities have had teams before and they got us where we re at so I m thankful for that she explained All I was really getting at was Broadway the off-court lifestyle and so I think that is really intriguing I think Miami s intriguing That s all I was getting at I think it would be fun to get particular teams outside of the NBA region I think people totally misread the situation I would never speak down upon middle-class blue-collar working people That s where I come from I m from Missouri I get I m in Indiana and that s why I m kind of hinting at Broadway sounds fun Miami sounds fun That s all I was getting at WHO IS SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM CAITLIN CLARK'S NEW BODYGUARD TEAMMATE EMERGING AS A WNBA ICONCunningham also addressed the backlash to her comments The people that hype you up are going to be the same people pushing you down And so for me I unfailingly just kind of stay right here in the middle I think that was my personal opinion she revealed Cunningham comes from a family of southern farmers A five-part feature series by Cunningham's alma mater the University of Missouri recounted her family's southern farm roots Cunningham learned to ride horses and drove four-wheelers to the family's grain silos So much of our success goes back to what we learned here Cunningham disclosed of working on the farm We loved coming out to the farm to help We revealed out how to work hard and work together It made us farm strong Cunningham even had a special name for her farmer grandparents Maw Maw and Paw Paw However Cunningham suggested glitzier markets for WNBA expansion in her initial criticisms pointing to Miami and Kansas City Like where do they want to play Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans I think Miami would have been a great one Everyone loves Florida Nashville is an amazing city Kansas City amazing opportunity There s a huge arena downtown that no one's using Cunningham announced I'm not so sure what the thought process is there At the end of the day you don't want to expand our league too fast We don't want teams to totally dominate and chosen that aren't It's a hard situation but man I don t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or Cleveland Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter