Sophie Cunningham was never a party to any lawsuit. The Sophie Cunningham lawsuit story traces back to a federal discrimination complaint filed in May 2025 by former Phoenix Suns security director Gene Traylor, in which he alleged that a Suns executive had spread a rumor of an affair between Cunningham and Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein. Cunningham was not a defendant, not a plaintiff, and not named in any claim. She denied the rumor, the Suns denied it, and Traylor voluntarily dismissed his case with prejudice in April 2026 with no settlement and no payment.1Sports Business Journal. Discrimination Lawsuit Against Suns Dismissed With Prejudice
How Cunningham’s Name Ended Up in the Filing
Gene Traylor, hired by the Suns in 2023 as director of safety, security, and risk management, sued the entities operating the Suns and Mercury franchises in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in May 2025.2PACER Monitor. Traylor v. Sports & Entertainment Services LLC et al His complaint alleged racial discrimination, retaliation for reporting arena security failures, and a demotion he attributed to bias.3Front Office Sports. Suns Beat Ex-Employee’s Racial Bias, Security Lawsuit
Inside that broader complaint, Traylor described internal gossip he said he had encountered at the franchise. He alleged that Cornelius Craig, the franchise’s vice president of security and risk management, had told others that CEO Josh Bartelstein was having an affair with Cunningham, who was then playing for the Phoenix Mercury.4Fox 10 Phoenix. Sophie Cunningham Deeply Saddened, Suns Call Accusation Delusional Traylor said he reported the rumor to Bartelstein as “damaging information that could jeopardize the organization.”5New York Post. Sophie Cunningham Accused of Having Affair With Suns Mercury CEO in Bombshell Lawsuit
The paragraph containing that allegation was not a legal claim on its own. It appeared as narrative context inside Traylor’s discrimination case. Cunningham was not named as a defendant and had no role in the litigation.6CBS Sports. Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Denies Extremely Hurtful Accusations of Involvement in Affair With Suns Executive By the time the suit was filed, she had already been traded from the Mercury to the Indiana Fever in a multi-team deal on February 1, 2025, roughly three months before Traylor’s complaint became public.7Indiana Fever. Indiana Fever Acquire Guard Sophie Cunningham
Cunningham’s Denial
On May 21, 2025, Cunningham addressed the allegation on Instagram. “I am deeply saddened by the recent false accusations made against me by Gene Traylor, someone I do not know and have never met,” she wrote. “Let me be clear: his statements are untrue and extremely hurtful.” She said she would “not let untrue gossip take my focus away from what is most important to me, which is basketball,” and criticized outlets that published the allegation without contacting her first.6CBS Sports. Fever’s Sophie Cunningham Denies Extremely Hurtful Accusations of Involvement in Affair With Suns Executive
The Suns’ Response
Stacey Mitch, the Suns’ senior vice president of communications, called the reports “entirely false and morally reprehensible.” Mitch accused plaintiff’s attorney Sheree Wright of inserting “salacious lies and fabrications” into legal filings to pressure the team into a settlement. “Sheree Wright will not extort our organization and never see a single dollar,” the statement said.8Front Office Sports. Suns, Bartelstein, Sophie Cunningham Denial The organization said it would “pursue all available legal avenues” against those spreading what it called misleading narratives.9Arizona Republic. Sophie Cunningham, Josh Bartelstein Affair Suns Lawsuit
How the Case Ended
On April 23, 2026, Traylor voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit with prejudice, permanently giving up the right to refile the claims. The Suns said there was no settlement and no payment. “He has now abandoned these baseless claims, dismissing them and waiving any ability to re-assert them,” Mitch said.10Yahoo Sports. Employee Lawsuit Against Suns Dismissed
Two weeks later, on May 6, 2026, the court approved a stipulation ordering Traylor to pay the Suns $15,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.2PACER Monitor. Traylor v. Sports & Entertainment Services LLC et al
Sanctions Against the Attorney Who Filed the Suit
The credibility of the filing that named Cunningham took a further hit through a separate case. Sheree Wright, who represented Traylor along with co-counsel Cortney Walters, was sanctioned by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in a different discrimination lawsuit against the Suns brought by former employee Chelsea Montes. In a March 31, 2026 order, Judge Snow found that Wright and Walters had submitted filings containing at least 18 fabricated legal references and fake quotations generated by artificial intelligence. He dismissed their explanation as a “convoluted tale” and ruled they had violated Rule 11 by failing to verify their filings.11Arizona Republic. Lawyers Punished in Lawsuit Against Phoenix Suns for AI Use
Snow ordered the two attorneys to pay the Suns’ legal fees connected to the issue, which the court estimated could reach “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” and to complete training on the ethical use of AI in legal practice. He referred the ruling to the state bars of Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida, and to all federal judges in the Arizona district.11Arizona Republic. Lawyers Punished in Lawsuit Against Phoenix Suns for AI Use Wright had already been formally reprimanded by the Arizona State Bar in August 2024 for prior professional conduct violations and was on two years of probation when the AI sanctions were imposed.12Arizona Courts. Wright, PDJ 2024-9028
Cunningham herself never filed a lawsuit tied to any of this, and no defamation or related action against Traylor, Wright, or any outlet appears in the record. Her only involvement was the denial she posted the week the story broke.