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Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has hit out at the WNBA's latest expansion plans and name-dropped Detroit and Cleveland when questioning the decision.
On Monday morning, the WNBA confirmed that Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia will register teams in the league from 2028.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was the one who announced the news and asserted that 'demand for women's basketball has never been higher'.
However, evidently not everyone shared those thoughts and, on Tuesday, footage emerged of Cunningham - teammate of Caitlin Clark - questioning the move.
In a video on X, she said: 'You want to listen to your players, too. 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. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There's a huge arena downtown that nobody is using.'
Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has hit out at the WNBA's latest expansion plans
The WNBA confirmed expansion plans that will see three new franchises joining the league
Cunningham is a teammate of Caitlin Clark (right) who has taken the league by storm
Fever star Sophie Cunningham on the WNBA expanding to multiple new cities over the next few years:
"I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]" pic.twitter.com/pncwYpMar3
'But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].'
Both Cleveland and Detroit previously had franchises in the WNBA, while Philadelphia also had a team in the American Basketball League - which ran from 1996-98.
The ownership groups of Cleveland and Detroit have said that their previous names - Rockers and Shock - will be considered but that due diligence will be taken before reaching a decision on the franchise name.
A number of cities - including the likes of St. Louis, Kansas City, Austin, Miami, Denver - all bid on teams but saw their attempts fall unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, all three of the new teams have NBA ownerships groups - who each paid $250million expansion fee in order to get their franchises in the league.
The news comes amid a boom in WNBA interest following the endeavors of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark, who has taken the league by storm since being drafted.
In no small part due to Clark's effect on the league, the WNBA secured a new 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime Video NBCUniversal worth a reported $2.2billion, which is set to begin in 2026.
There has already been a prominent breakaway women's league since Clark joined the WNBA, as the 3-on-3 Unrivaled launched last winter.
