“Well not for you now” - Sophie Cunningham receives backlash from NFL player on her demeaning Detroit comment

Sophie Cunningham spoke her mind while mentioning possible cities that could be considered for the WNBA’s expansion. She wanted the WNBA to consider crowd sentiment while developing its expansion roadmap. While expressing her thoughts, she commented on Detroit and Cleveland, which received a blunt response from NFL player Dan Skipper .

Responding to a clip where Cunningham was seen being skeptical about Detroit as a good destination for the WNBA’s growing presence, Dan Skipper wrote:

“You ever been there? Pretty good place to play, well not for you now.”

Sophie’s comments on the WNBA’s possible destinations garnered attention. It received more than a million views, and varied responses from the basketball fans and fraternity. The entities affected by the comment instantly put up their responses on their X accounts.

You ever been there? Pretty good place to play, well not for you now. https://t.co/YJEKazHkJE

— Dan Skipper (@DanSkipper70) July 1, 2025

Sophie Cunningham gets reality check in response to comments on DetroitIn addition to Detroit Lions’ Dan Skipper, the City of Detroit page on X came to the defense of the city with a statistics-based response. They enlightened Sophie with some mind-boggling information about Detroit’s love for sports. Their response was:

“The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock), we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals. Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.”

The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals.

Additionally more than… https://t.co/ePZhzQE1f3

— City of Detroit (@CityofDetroit) July 1, 2025

The City of Cleveland admins also sprang into action and reposted Caitlin Clark’s response from 2024, where she was seen praising the city. They tweeted:

“Sophie, your teammate doesn’t seem to think Cleveland is too bad!

We’re proud to have been chosen to host a WNBA team, and any player who comes here will feel that legendary passion Cleveland sports fans show our teams!”
What did Sophie Cunningham say about Detroit and Cleveland?Sophie Cunningham had her list of cities ready, which she thought would be suitable destinations for the WNBA’s expansion. However, while doing so, she put Detroit and Cleveland off her list of preferred locations. She said:

“Miami would have been a great one. Everyone loves Florida. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown (Sprint Center) that no one’s using. And I think the women’s soccer league (in Kansas City) is showing that people draw.”

It was the concluding part that caught people’s attention. She wrapped up her thoughts, saying:

“You don’t want teams to totally dominate then have teams that aren’t. It’s a hard situation, but I don’t know how excited people are to go to Detroit or (Cleveland).”

Also Read: NBA star Sophie Cunningham's viral Instagram carousel sparks heartfelt reactions from Caitlin Clark and Lexie Hull

Was Sophie Cunningham’s comment blown out of proportion? Readers can share their thoughts in the comments section.