For the third time in an eight-day span, someone threw a sex toy onto the court during an WNBA game and this time, it appeared to hit Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham, who makes her Phoenix homecoming Aug. 7 in her first Valley appearance since being traded by the Mercury in January.
The latest incident occurred in Los Angeles on Aug. 5 when the Fever played the Sparks. Someone launched a green sex toy from the stands late in the first half of the Sparks’ 101-90 win, and it landed near Cunningham’s feet after glancing off her left leg.
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Sparks point guard Kelsey Plum quickly kicked the object off the court. It’s the third such incident in what seems to be developing into a disturbing trend following similar interruptions of WNBA games in Atlanta on June 29 and in Chicago on Aug. 1.
“I think it’s ridiculous, it’s dumb, it’s stupid,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts told reporters afterward. “It’s also dangerous, and players’ safety is No. 1. Respecting the game. All those things. I think it’s really stupid.”
Cunningham became a victim on the same day that she publicly lamented the idea of a player being hit by such an object being hurled out of nowhere. During her Aug. 4 podcast entitled “Show Me Something,” she speculated about what the fallout might look like if a player were to be struck.
“I just know how things go viral now, and I just know if that thing like even came from like the rafters … and just slapped me right in the face, I could never, I could, that would be what I’d be known for life,” Cunningham said. “And yeah, it could break a (expletive) nose.”
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Cunningham said her mom even told her to beware of the possibility of being hit by such an object.
“My mom, she goes, instead of like my good luck text, she goes ‘Watch out for flying dildos tonight,’” Cunningham said.
On Aug. 1, Cunningham sent a post on X asking fans to stop the nonsense.
“Stop throwing dildos on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us,” she wrote. She made light of it by resharing that post after the most recent incident in Los Angeles with the message, “This did NOT age well.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sex toy appeared to hit Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham
