Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham became the latest victim of the WNBA’s sex toy-throwing epidemic Tuesday night.
A fourth WNBA game was interrupted by a flying sex toy when another was launched from the stands onto the court during the second quarter of the Fever’s clash against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena.
However, this time, Cunningham, who has established herself as Caitlin Clark’s enforcer, found herself in its firing line.
On the broadcast of the clash, a green sex toy could be seen hurling into the paint where it appeared to catch the Fever guard on the leg.
The 28-year-old visibly flinched before leaping away from the erotic item as Sparks star Kelsey Plum stepped in to kick the toy away, while the official blew the whistle.
Cunningham was then seen laughing off the incident with her Sparks rivals as the game came to a brief halt.
Sophie Cunningham was seen visibly flinching as she was hit by a flying sex toy on Tuesday
The Indiana Fever star was the latest victim of the sex toy-tossing epidemic to befall the WNBA
The incident came just hours after Cunningham addressed the string of recent sex-toy tossing on her ‘Show Me Something’ podcast.
‘I was thinking about like, if someone threw that thing and like, first of all, the bounce that that thing had, if that smacks someone in the face, you know that’s gonna be plastered everywhere,’ Cunningham said.
‘I just know how things go viral now. And I just know that thing like, even came from like the rafters or bounced and just slapped me right in the face. That would be what I’d be known for, for life. So I was just trying to protect all of our images.’
The Fever and Cunningham returned to action Tuesday night without Clark for the eighth-straight game, yet it appeared Indiana’s players were more concerned about errant flying sex toys than preserving their record without their superstar.
‘Funny thing is like my parents and my sister, they literally text me after or before every single game, saying, “Good luck,”‘ Cunningham continued.
‘I’ll send it so everyone can see this. But my mom goes, instead of like my good luck text, she goes, “Watch out for flying (sex toys) tonight.” And then the other one said, “Did you really just post the (sex toy) tweet?” It got some legs.’
She previously responded to the incidents online last Friday, writing: ‘stop throwing dildos on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us.’
The post on X went viral and garnered over three million views on the social media platform in the space of three hours.
The bizarre incidents first began during a game between the Valkyries and Dream on July 29
Players from both teams were left stunned as they realized what had occurred in the game
Earlier on Tuesday, a Georgia man arrested for allegedly throwing a sex toy onto the floor of a WNBA game last week has been publicly identified after being booked on multiple charges in an Atlanta suburb.
Delbert Carver, 23, was released from Clayton County Jail in Jonesboro on Sunday one day after being charged with disorderly conduct, public indecency/indecent exposure, and criminal trespass, according to online records.
Police say he was arrested after throwing another sex toy onto the court during the Atlanta Dream’s win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Friday. He also allegedly confessed to police that he was involved in a similar incident in Atlanta’s July 29 loss to the visiting Golden State Valkyries – a shocking moment that subsequently went viral last week.
Carver was allegedly live streaming Friday’s incident before being apprehended.
‘This was supposed to be a joke and this joke was supposed to go viral,’ Delbert allegedly told officers Friday, according to an incident report provided to Daily Mail by the College Park Police Department.
Carver’s next court date has not been announced and he has no listed attorney on the Clayton County government website.
The first incident took place during the Atlanta Dream’s 77-75 loss to the Golden State Valkyries on July 29. The game came to an abrupt halt when the bright green sex toy landed onto the court during play, but no initial arrests were made.
The shocking act appeared to spark a trend as it was followed by a similar incident just four days during the Atlanta Dream’s win over the visiting Phoenix Mercury on Friday.
Another WNBA game in Chicago was halted after a sex toy was thrown onto the court Friday
Delbert Carver allegedly confessed to Tuesday’s incident when caught performing a similar stunt at Friday’s game outside Atlanta, according to the police report provided to Daily Mail
A similar situation unfolded at another Valkyries road game on Friday against the Chicago Sky. However, Chicago police have since told ESPN that the department has no record of any calling to make a complaint so it’s unlikely any arrests will be made in that case.
Yet, even the threat of legal action wasn’t enough to halt the epidemic sweeping the league as the targeting of Cunningham marked the fourth incident in a week.
‘It’s super disrespectful,’ Sky center Elizabeth Williams told reporters Friday. ‘I don’t really get the point of it. It’s really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.’
New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison also chimed in on social media.
‘ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??!’ Harrison said on X. ‘Please do better. It’s not funny. Never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.’
WNBA arenas often ban the use of bags by fans or restrict their use heavily. Often only small, transparent bags are permitted into the buildings.