WNBA Franchise Is Taking Heat For 'Racially Insensitive' Photo
12/03/2024 02:55 PM
The Phoenix Mercury received a lot of backlash from WNBA fans on Monday because of their latest photo shoot.
With the 2025 WNBA season still several months away, the Mercury shared a photo of Sophie Cunningham sitting on Kahleah Cooper while her left hand is on Natasha Cloud's head. Upon first glance, it seems like a relatively harmless picture. However, there are a ton of people who believe it's a racially insensitive pose from everyone involved in this photo shoot.
"There is not a situation on this earth where a white woman should be sitting on a Black Woman like a piece of furniture," one person wrote on X.
"Who approved this pose and why is that lady on my sister? why is my girls hair touching the floor…yall shady for this," a second person commented.
Another person wrote "The ancestors are rolling in their graves because what is that 1st photo?!
The Mercury have not taken down this post despite all the criticism on social media. We'd have to imagine their social media manager is well aware of what's being said on X and Instagram.
We've already asked our boss if we can frame these in the practice facility pic.twitter.com/33l8pLXQ6n
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) December 2, 2024
For whatever it's worth, there's actually a photo where Cloud sits on Cunningham, but that one didn't draw as much attention on social media.
Check it out:
It was a whole shoot... pic.twitter.com/Q7YjlDnrHN
— Unbiased WNBA (@unbiasedwnba) December 3, 2024
None of the players involved in this photo have addressed what's being said online. To be honest, that's probably for the best.
The last thing the WNBA needs is for this situation to blow up more than it already has.
Cooper led the Mercury in scoring this past season with 21.1 points per game. Cloud, meanwhile, led the offense with 6.9 assists per contest. Cunningham didn't stuff the stat sheet in any major category, but she did average 8.4 points per game while knocking down 37.8 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc.
The Mercury finished the 2024 season with a 19-21 record. They were eliminated by the Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the playoffs.
Related: Sophie Cunningham Teases Pregame Outfit For 2025 WNBA Season
