Sophie Cunningham calls out WNBA rival Angel Reese for 'dangerous play'

Sophie Cunningham has called out WNBA rival Angel Reese over what she described as a "dangerous play" during the Atlanta Dream's run to the WNBA Finals.

Speaking on her No Hesitation podcast, Cunningham made clear that she is a fan of Reese but suggested the Dream star had gone too far with some of her recent on-court actions. She pointed to incidents involving Reese diving at an opponent's knees and making contact with a player in the air, warning that such behaviour could put others at risk.

Tempers flared during Atlanta's playoff sweep of the New York Liberty, with the Dream clinching the series with an 85-83 win in Game 3 on October 9. The victory secured Atlanta's first WNBA Finals appearance since 2013. It comes as Donald Trump responds to 'gross' Sophie Cunningham compliment with bizarre post.

The Indiana Fever guard praised Reese for standing up for her teammates but questioned why she was not penalized for chasing an opponent down the court and getting in their ear. She argued that the incident should have resulted in a technical foul, adding that similar behaviour would be penalised during the regular season.

However, Cunningham said she had no issue with players exchanging words during games, suggesting officials should allow more of that physical and verbal intensity during the playoffs. “Angel, I appreciate her having her teammates’ backs. That just shows that she cares about them and loves her teammates" said Cunningham.

Here’s my thing: if you’re going to chase someone down the court and get in their ear, that should be a technical foul. Anytime. That should be a tech. 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 for that, I think that’s absolutely insane. With JJ, when she drove and got blocked, I wish they had given either of them a tech. I think that’s good playoff basketball. Let them talk a little s--- to each other, and then their teams separate them. I think that’s fine."

While praising Reese for her determination and willingness to get on the floor to win possession, Cunningham drew a distinction between playing hard and putting opponents at risk. "Angel is going to play hard. She’s a player who goes after the ball. I appreciate that about players, her wanting to get on the floor and make the extra effort" added Cunningham.

"But you can’t tackle someone in the air and then go for someone’s knees and ankles. That’s a dangerous play. Technically, both of those are a little dangerous. For those to go uncalled, is that not weird?”

The WNBA Finals get underway on Saturday, with the Dream travelling to San Francisco to face the Golden State Valkyries in Games 1 and 2 at Chase Center.

The series will then move to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena, which has a capacity of 17,000 compared to the 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena, where the Dream played 16 of their 22 regular-season home games.

Atlanta hosted all three of its previous playoff games at State Farm Arena, but the venue was initially unavailable for all three scheduled Finals dates. The WNBA subsequently rescheduled the games, allowing the Dream to host the Valkyries at the larger arena.