MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — On Monday, the WNBA announced its plans to add three more expansion teams by 2030.
On Tuesday, a prominent player questioned the league's choice of markets.
Indiana guard Sophie Cunningham raised her concerns during the shootaround before the Fever's 74-59 victory over the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final.
The league already had plans to add franchises in Toronto and Portland next season. The three new teams will play in Cleveland (2028), Detroit (2029) and Philadelphia (2030), giving the league 18 teams.
Cunningham, a seven-year veteran who spent her first six years in Phoenix, expressed skepticism over the latest choices, two of which — Cleveland and Detroit — have already seen WNBA franchises come and go.
“You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I do think that Miami would have been a great (location). Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity,” said Cunningham, who played in college at Missouri.
“I’m not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast. I think that that’s also another thing. It’s kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”
Cunningham scored 13 points to help the Fever, who were missing star Caitlin Clark because of a groin injury, beat the league-best Lynx. She did not speak to reporters after the game.
All five expansion franchises will play in markets with NBA teams, and Fever coach Stephanie White said she sees that as an advantage.
“I think it's a positive thing,” White said. “Having built-in fan bases, shared expenses ... and the way that we're filling NBA arenas. We are at a point where we're outgrowing some of the smaller, independent ones, and opportunities to play in those arenas is big-time.”
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Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, right, works the floor against Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham prepares to shoot against the Dallas Wings during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Friday, June 27, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
DENVER (AP) — A Frontier Airlines plane hit and killed a pedestrian on the runway of the Denver International Airport during takeoff, airport authorities said, sparking an engine fire and forcing passengers to evacuate.
The plane, on route from Denver to Los Angeles International Airport, “reported striking a pedestrian during takeoff at DEN at approximately 11:19 p.m. on Friday," the airport's official X account wrote.
A spokesperson for the airport said the pedestrian, who jumped a perimeter fence, has died. They said the unidentified person was hit two minutes after entering the airport. The person is not believed to be an airport employee.
“We're stopping on the runway,” the pilot tells the control tower according to the site ATC.com. “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.”
The pilot tells the air traffic controller they have “231 souls” on board and that an “individual was walking across the runway.”
The air traffic controller responds that they are “rolling the trucks now" before the pilot tells the tower they “have smoke in the aircraft. We are going to evacuate on the runway.”
Frontier Airlines said in a statement flight 4345 was the one involved in the collision and that “smoke was reported in the cabin and the pilots aborted takeoff.” It was not clear whether the smoke was linked to the crash with the pedestrian.
“The Airbus A321 was carrying 224 passengers and seven crew members,” the airline said. “We are investigating this incident and gathering more information in coordination with the airport and other safety authorities.”
Passengers were then evacuated via slides and the emergency crew bused them to the terminal. The airport spokesperson said 12 passengers suffered minor injuries and five were taken to local hospitals.
Denver Airport said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified and that runway 17L, where the incident took place, will remain closed while an investigation is conducted. It is expected to open later today.
The pedestrian death came a day after a Delta Air Lines employee was killed while on the job at the Orlando International Airport. In a statement, the airline said the employee was killed Thursday night without providing details of the incident nor the name of the employee.
“We are focused on extending our full support to family and taking care of our Orlando team during this difficult time,” the airline said. "We are working with local authorities as a full investigation gets underway to determine what occurred.”
FILE - A Frontier Airlines jetliner taxis down a runway for take off from Denver International airport on Nov. 25, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
