Sophie Cunningham missed her chance to qualify for the Finals during the 2025 season. She had committed to the Indiana Fever a year earlier. But with Indy, she found teammates she wanted to stick with. She’s already “super excited” to play with Kelsey Mitchell at Project B. But she also tried to bring Caitlin Clark by pitching the idea herself. But…now she’s left with nothing but a wave of criticism.

When Cunningham invited Clark to join Project B, Clark declined with a firm “NO.” As Sophie explained it on her podcast, Show me something, on 5th December.

She said, “All these leagues are great, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have the WNBA, you don’t have the platform. You don’t have the eyes. You don’t have the recognition… I tried to get her (Caitlin Clark) to play in Project B. She was like, ‘No.’”

Sophie made the offer because she genuinely wanted CC to experience the new league. Cunningham herself had turned Project B down twice before finally accepting. After all, the offer is quite tempting. Project B launches in November 2026, during the WNBA offseason. It features six teams, higher salaries, equity for players, and games played across continents.

So a win-win situation. That’s why many others, including Alyssa Thomas, Kamilla Cardoso, Jonquel Jones, and Nneka Ogwumike, have joined in.

So, having Clark alongside Sophie would have been the cherry on top. But the former Hawkeyes star has her priorities set, and she simply said no. But that decision ultimately led to criticism of Sophie.

Fans are furious at Sophie Cunningham

As Sophie revealed her conversation with Caitlin Clark, fans couldn’t help but dive into the comment section.

“Caitlin Clark is loyal, loves the #WNBA & its fans. Committed to making it better… she loves the game more than the $$$,” penned a netizen.

It isn’t the first time Caitlin Clark has said no to a basketball league. She has been consistently approached by Unrivaled for two seasons now. But CC never took an offer. She uses her offseason to do other activities she enjoys. So somewhere, fans knew her take. But what got them angry was Sophie, though!

As this user remarked, “Yeah… Sophie won’t make it without using Caitlin Clark’s presence or name lol. Send her to the Connecticut Suns, what is she?”

Ever since the June 17th incident, wherein Sophie Cunningham came up to take revenge for Jacy Sheldon’s shove on Caitlin Clark, she has been widely regarded as CC’s guardian angel. That added to her popularity and even translated into Sophie earning dollars.

Within days, Sophie had more than a million followers on Instagram and TikTok, up from a few hundred thousand. She secured seven new deals in the weeks following the incident, including one with Arby’s. She even started a new podcast with her friend West Wilson.

So, with that being evident, there’s an assumption that Sophie’s using Caitlin Clark’s presence to gain popularity.

“Sophie has a big mouth & is doing everything to make her podcast watchable. Quit talking about CC. That was Caitlin’s call. She could’ve been using it for leverage for contract talks,” penned another user.

This isn’t the first time Cunningham has been clouded with doubts. She has been accused of taking advantage of Caitlin Clark by befriending her before, by Skip Bayless. 

As this user puts it, “Sophie talks too much. She just gave the owners leverage in their CBA battle. They should be under the assumption that Caitlin is considering it even if she isn’t. Her potential involvement was a weapon and Sophie basically told them Caitlin said hell no lol.”

It has been a year and a month since the extension ended, and yet no new CBA is in sight. The players’ union is stuck on their demand, and acting as leverage for them is CC and the potentially rival leagues.

While “the Caitlin Clark effect” has been credited as a vital component behind the league’s growth, rival leagues pose a threat that players could consider as a second option. But with Sophie revealing that CC is not interested, it takes away the chance to capitalize. However, Sophie clarified that Caitlin Clark has her priorities set – and it might not be Project B, though!

“Players with large shoe deals are not going to play in a traveling league outside the US. Also would guess if they are in USA Basketball radar most of them will opt to stay US-based,” one fan pointed out.

Caitlin Clark had always dreamt about playing for Team USA at the Olympics. She participated in the training camp back in April of last year, but due to March Madness, she had to withdraw and was ultimately snubbed.

However, coming up this season, CC’s got the chance to fulfill her dream. She will be wearing the No. 17 jersey during training camp starting on December 12th.

This would be a necessary first step toward reaching her goal – the 2028 LA Olympics. So her non-participation could have been due to her dreams.