With the WNBA Finals scheduled to begin Saturday afternoon, the Golden State Valkyries and Atlanta Dream are preparing to play for a championship. Each franchise is seeking its first title since joining the league, but Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has zeroed in on a separate playoff dispute, as reported by Fox News.

Cunningham took issue with how officials handled Atlanta forward Angel Reese during the Dream’s series-clinching victory over the New York Liberty. The incident unfolded in Game 3 on October 9 after Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu committed an illegal screen.

Reese followed Ionescu down the court while shouting, "You can't do that" at the four-time WNBA All-Star. Officials did not call a technical foul, a decision that clearly frustrated Cunningham.

The Fever guard discussed the sequence on her "No Hesitation" podcast. She called Reese avoiding the technical foul and the subsequent $500 fine that usually accompanies a playoff technical "absolutely ridiculous."

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"If you're going to chase someone down the court and get in someone's ear, that should be a tech. Anytime," Cunningham said.

She continued, "It's going to be a tech in the regular season. Now, if she were to stay on her side and just kind of yell and say something, I'm all for that."

"But the fact that she didn't get a tech on that, I think that's absolutely insane," Cunningham added.

“Angel I appreciate her having her teammates back … Angel is going to play hard. But you can’t tackle someone in the air and go for someones knees and ankles.” -- Sophie talks about Angel Reese's play https://t.co/csdVYt8iG3

— No Hesitation Show (@NoHesiShow) October 15, 2026

Cunningham was not alone in believing the confrontation warranted a technical foul. ESPN WNBA analyst Rebecca Lobo said during the broadcast that Reese should have received one as the incident happened.

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Although Cunningham strongly objected to the lack of a call, she also acknowledged Reese’s reason for confronting Ionescu. Cunningham said she respected that Reese was standing up for her teammate during the playoff game.

The absence of an initial technical became more significant a few minutes later. Officials assessed Reese a technical after she blocked Jonquel Jones’ layup attempt into the stands and then stood chest to chest with Jones.

If Reese had received technical fouls for both incidents, she would have been ejected from the game. That development could have changed the contest in favor of the Liberty.

Cunningham did not agree with the technical foul that officials eventually called. She described that confrontation as "good playoff basketball," drawing a sharp distinction between it and Reese following Ionescu down the court.

Her larger complaint focused on the difference between the officials’ reactions to the two sequences. Cunningham called the gap between the calls "weird and inconsistent."

The consequences could continue into the WNBA Finals. Reese enters the series with two technical fouls, and two more during the seven-game matchup would result in a one-game suspension.

The situation also carries another competitive connection for Cunningham. Reese and Cunningham’s Fever teammate Caitlin Clark have a history of hard fouls and competitive banter.

Even with that history in the background, Cunningham’s assessment did not condemn everything Reese did. She criticized the confrontation she believed deserved punishment, defended the later sequence as acceptable playoff basketball, and credited Reese for supporting a teammate.

That balance made her criticism of the officiating especially pointed. Cunningham’s argument was not simply that officials should punish Reese more aggressively, but that the same standard should apply consistently when deciding which confrontations cross the line.

For Cunningham, following an opponent down the court and getting into that player’s ear met the threshold for a technical foul. The later chest-to-chest moment, despite drawing the actual technical, struck her as part of the intensity expected in playoff competition.

Reese now heads into the Finals carrying two technical fouls and the possibility of a suspension if she accumulates two more. Cunningham, meanwhile, has made clear that she considers the missed first call the most troubling part of the sequence.