Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham drew another wave of attention after climbing atop an Indianapolis bar and joining a roaring “USA” chant following her team’s latest victory. Cunningham pumped her fist as patrons crowded around the bar and repeatedly boomed the patriotic chant. The moment came during a singalong of Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.” Video of the scene quickly spread across social media.
The celebration unfolded Friday night at Clayton’s Country Bar in downtown Indianapolis, several blocks from the Fever’s home court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Cunningham arrived after Indiana defeated the Dallas Wings 98-87, continuing the team’s late-season surge. Country singer Clayton Anderson, the bar’s proprietor, joined Cunningham as the crowd sang along with the music.
Footage from inside the bar shows Cunningham standing above the crowd as the patriotic chorus fills the room. When patrons begin chanting “USA,” she immediately joins them, raising her arm and driving the chant forward. The Fever guard needed little encouragement from the Indianapolis crowd, which responded loudly as she continued chanting from the bar top.
An X account called Johnny MAGA shared the footage on Sunday with the caption, “Sophie Cunningham chants ‘USA’ in an Indianapolis country bar after a Fever win.” The short video captured Cunningham pumping her fist while nearly everyone around her joined the chant. It soon circulated well beyond just the normal WNBA fan accounts.
The bar appearance came only hours after Cunningham played 20 minutes in Indiana’s victory over Dallas. She finished with five points and one rebound as the Fever recorded their eighth victory in ten games, according to the New York Post. Indiana reached 98 points for the win and continued building their late season momentum.
Watch Cunningham lead the patriotic celebration here:
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Cunningham’s bar-top celebration followed weeks of intense scrutiny surrounding her public comments and physical play on the court. She has become one of the league’s most recognizable personalities despite serving primarily as a role player for Indiana. An ESPN profile reported that searches for her name jumped 800% after her 2025 confrontation with Connecticut Sun guard Jacy Sheldon, while her TikTok following grew from approximately 300,000 to 1.4 million in one week.
The transgender controversy began after that ESPN profile, published July 21st, included comments Cunningham made during an interview in March about protecting women’s sports. When reporters asked her about the remarks two days later, Cunningham refused to back away. “I said what I said,” she told reporters before describing her position as “kind of common sense.” Cunningham added that protecting children included protecting young girls and said she would “never falter” in that belief.
Her remarks drew both support and opposition as the Fever traveled around the league. Demonstrations supporting Cunningham were organized outside games in Seattle, Portland and Minnesota, while Seattle Storm center Stefanie Dolson wore a “trans rights are human rights” shirt and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wore a “trans kids belong” shirt. The WNBA later assembled a task force of team presidents and general managers to discuss transgender eligibility and online hostility toward players.
Cunningham rejected accusations that her position was motivated by hatred and said she wanted to protect female athletes. “I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest,” Cunningham said. “And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.