Midwest
Sophie Cunningham criticizes WNBA’s new expansion cities: ‘Not so sure what the thought process is’
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The WNBA announced Monday it is expanding to 18 teams by the end of 2030, with franchises headed to Philadelphia, Detroit and Cincinnati.
It is continued growth for the league, which has the Golden State Valkyries, its 13th team, playing in its inaugural season. Toronto and Portland are due to get teams next season.
Despite more opportunities, one WNBA star isn’t exactly thrilled with the move.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham runs up the court during a game against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center June 27, 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
Sophie Cunningham, a teammate of Caitlin Clark’s on the Indiana Fever, praised the league for its efforts, saying, “You want to listen to your players, too,” while doubting players will be excited to be in the Midwest.
“Like, where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I think 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 that no one’s using,” Cunningham added Tuesday afternoon. “I’m not so sure what the thought process is there.
“At the end of the day, you don’t want to expand our league too fast. We don’t want teams to totally dominate and some that aren’t. It’s a hard situation, but, man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland].”
Each city Cunningham mentioned submitted a bid for expansion.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in the second half against the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis June 17, 2025. (Trevor Ruszkowski/Imagn Images)
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This will mark the second time the WNBA will be in Detroit. The Shock won three WNBA titles before relocating to Tulsa in 2010. They then moved to Dallas to become the Wings.
Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors.
“The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league’s extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game and the surging demand for investment in women’s professional basketball.”
Other cities to submit expansion bids were St. Louis, Austin, Denver, Charlotte and Houston, the latter of which had the Comets, which won the first four WNBA championships.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham poses for a photo April 30, 2025, during Indiana Fever media day at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith/IndyStar/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“There are a variety of cities that obviously bid, and one of those I wanted to shout out — because they have such a strong history in this league and their great ownership group — is Houston,” Engelbert said. “The Houston Comets were just an amazing one, the first four inaugural championships in the WNBA. So, I would say that’s the one, obviously, we have our eye on. (Owner) Tilman (Fertitta) has been a great supporter of the WNBA, and we’ll stay tuned on that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Detroit, MI
Michigan State Police sends message to drivers after trooper involved in hit and run:
“Slow down and move over” is the message that Michigan State Police is sending to drivers after one of its troopers in a parked patrol car was struck while investigating a crash this weekend. The driver of that vehicle fled the scene.
Michigan State Police tells CBS News Detroit that we’re two months into the year, and it has had six incidents across the state where patrol cars were struck by oncoming vehicles. One of those incidents occurred on Sunday evening.
“Could have been much more tragic,” said MSP Lieutenant Rene Gonzalez, First District public information officer.
Gonzalez says on Sunday, an MSP trooper was near M-10 and Schaefer Highway in Detroit, simply doing his job, when his patrol car was hit from behind.
“Trooper was out there, and he was investigating a crash when, at the time, a Jeep SUV drove into the rear of the parked vehicle,” Gonzalez said.
The impact slid the trooper’s car into a concrete wall. The 29-year-old Detroit woman driving the Jeep SUV struck the center median, got out of the vehicle, and ran away.
“Not sure why they did it. Maybe not paying attention if they were distracted. They’re attempting to locate her at this time,” said Lt. Gonzalez.
The trooper walked away with minor injuries. Gonzalez says this incident is an example of why Michigan’s Move Over Law was put in place many years ago. The law, which went into effect in 2019, requires drivers to move over into the next lane and reduce their speed by at least 10 mph when emergency or service vehicles — police, fire, rescue, ambulance and road service — have their lights activated.
Drivers who are not able to move over are still required to reduce their speed.
“Trying to do our jobs, however, people are not paying attention. The law is easy. It’s simple. You see us, you see our lights activated, you have to slow down ten miles below the posted speed limit, and then if able, move over to the next occupied available lane,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez says crashes like this can be deadly and often avoided.
“One life lost over something that was a totally preventable crash, it’s way too much. We’re asking that you slow down and move over when you see our lights. It’s a simple message that we’ve been pushing out for years,” he said.
Sunday’s crash remains under investigation. Michigan State Police detectives are still working to track down the 29-year-old suspect.
In the meantime, police are out enforcing the Move Over Law.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Bucks injury report: Is Giannis playing tonight vs. Celtics?
Porter has helped the Bucks stay afloat; what’s his Milwaukee future?
Kevin Porter Jr. has helped the Milwaukee Bucks stay afloat without an injured Giannis Antetokounmpo; what’s Porter Jr.’s future in Milwaukee?
The Milwaukee Bucks host the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum just over 24 hours after one of their most disappointing losses of the season, when they scored just eight fourth-quarter points and gave up a 39-point swing in the second half in a blowout loss at Chicago on March 1.
Boston comes into town as one of the league’s hottest teams having won eight of its last 10 and after beating Philadelphia on March 1. The Celtics (40-20) are currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and are looking to stay in front of New York.
The Bucks (26-33), meanwhile, had been winning games but have dropped two in a row and three of their last five. In those three losses, all to teams currently in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the team failed to score 100 points.
Is Giannis playing?
Yes.
Giannis Antetokounmpo began the day as questionable to play, and was upgraded to available after his pregame workout. It was the first time he had been listed as anything other than “out” since reinjuring his calf on Jan. 23. The game will mark the return of the former two-time MVP, who has missed the last 15 games with a strain of his soleus muscle in his right calf.
What is the Bucks record without Giannis?
11-17.
Milwaukee is 15-15 when Antetokounmpo plays any number of minutes. They are 1-2 when he has exited games early due to injury.
Is Jayson Tatum playing?
No.
Boston’s all-NBA wing is continuing to work his way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered during the playoffs in May. Tatum has been doing five-on-five work lately.
Boston Celtics injury report
- Jayson Tatum, out (Achilles)
- Jaylen Brown, out (illness)
- Neemias Queta, out (rest)
Taurean Prince, out (neck surgery)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, questionable (right calf strain)
Bucks probable starters
- Guard: AJ Green, Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr.
- Forward: Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Center: Myles Turner
What time is the Bucks game?
The game is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CT.
What channel is the Bucks game on?
The game will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin with Lisa Byington, Wesley Matthews and Melanie Ricks on the call. The game was originally supposed to be a national broadcast on Peacock but was moved to NBA TV.
NBA playoff standings
The Bucks are currently out of the postseason picture entirely. Here are the play-in standings in the Eastern Conference heading into game play on March 2:
No. 7: Orlando (31-28): The Bucks and Magic have split the season series 1-1. The Bucks host the Magic on March 8.
No. 8: Miami (32-29): The Bucks and Magic have split the season series 1-1. Milwaukee travels to Miami on March 12.
No. 9: Atlanta (31-31): The Bucks lead the season series 1-0. The Bucks host the Hawks on March 4 and then travel to Atlanta on March 14.
No. 10: Charlotte (30-31): The Bucks own the tiebreaker over the Hornets having won the season series 3-1.
No. 11: Milwaukee (26-33): The Bucks have had better luck against the play-in teams to date, as they are just 5-13 against the top six seeds in the conference.
“We say we didn’t play ourselves out of it,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said. “Obviously I’m competitive. I think we should’ve had an even better record. But, not having your best player for that long and staying above .500 is huge for us. It’s funny, when he went out (Jan. 23) the talk around me was ‘being .500’ and I was like we can be better than that. We were. I’ll take it. But, never satisfied.”
The four teams in the play-in will face one another to determine the final two playoff teams (which will face the top two seeds). Teams that hold the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds only have to win one game to advance, teams that hold the Nos. 8 and 9 seeds must win twice to advance
Bucks vs. Celtics odds
Boston is a 7.5-point favorite over Milwaukee with the over/under set at 216.5 points, per BetMGM.
Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis man sentenced to nearly 30 years for murder of Deshaun Hill
A Minneapolis man who pleaded guilty to murdering a high school student in 2022 was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison on Monday.
It was the second time Cody Fohrenkam was sentenced for fatally shooting 15-year-old Deshaun Hill. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 38 years in prison in February 2023, but the Minnesota Court of Appeals later reversed the conviction and granted him a retrial based on illegally obtained incriminating statements.
Fohrenkam, 33, agreed to a plea deal as his second trial was set to start, pleading guilty to one count of second-degree intentional murder in exchange for Monday’s 340-month sentence. The judge presiding over the hearing gave him credit for 1,476 days already served.
Fohrenkam shot and killed Hill while Hill was walking to a bus stop just blocks from Minneapolis North High School, where Hill was a star quarterback and honor roll student.
One of Hill’s aunts said in a statement shortly before the judge sentenced Fohrenkam that her nephew was “full of life.”
“When he spoke, you listened. He had a soft spirit and a good heart,” she said. “Deshaun was an artist who, as you all know, he took his education seriously. He had dreams and goals. He worked hard to make his family proud.”
This story will be updated.
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