Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is not losing much sleep over the White House turning her viral WNBA finger-pointing moment into political meme material.
The moment came June 22 during Indiana’s 86-77 win over the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. After a heated exchange on the floor, Cunningham pointed directly at Phoenix forward-guard DeWanna Bonner and was hit with a technical foul, writes Fox New.
the enraged reaction to the initial Sophie Cunningham point
And a meme was bornpic.twitter.com/IFSL2ylHRL
— TaraBull (@TaraBull) June 28, 2026
The gesture quickly took on a life of its own. Photos and video spread across social media, where it became one of the most recognizable sports memes of the year.
America 250 drone show, but Sophie Cunningham is pointing at you. 🦅🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/og0bRj6a5z
— Popmemes by Jon 🚀 (@JonCovering) July 5, 2026
Sophie Cunningham becomes the first statue recognizing Mothers Everywhere! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/0l9NEXjQZl
— HaleLiberty (@HaleLiberty1) June 29, 2026
Then the White House joined in.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 30, 2026
On June 30, the White House posted a clip from Cunningham’s podcast in which she discussed the incident, pairing it with familiar footage of President Donald Trump pointing at the camera during his 2024 campaign.
Asked about the post Friday, Cunningham shrugged it off.
“I think everyone around the world is posting it,” she said. “Every company has done it. So I don’t really think twice about it. I just think they’re another group posting about it.”
Cunningham had already defended herself on her podcast, calling the technical foul “the weakest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” She said she “didn’t say a word” during the exchange and insisted that “all I was doing was literally pointing.”
She added: “I couldn’t help myself. I could not. She was losing her s— and all I was doing was literally pointing.”
For Cunningham, though, the whole thing appears to be little more than another example of the internet doing what the internet does.
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