{"id":2438940,"date":"2025-05-25T15:10:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T19:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wnba-star-accused-of-affair-with-ceo-team-calls-it-complete-fabrication-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2025-05-25T15:12:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T19:12:20","slug":"wnba-star-accused-of-affair-with-ceo-team-calls-it-complete-fabrication-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wnba-star-accused-of-affair-with-ceo-team-calls-it-complete-fabrication-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Star Accused of Affair with CEO, Team Calls It Complete Fabrication: Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwnba-star-accused-of-affair-with-ceo-team-calls-it-complete-fabrication-lawsuit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2438940&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Phoenix Suns are facing a significant lawsuit filed by Gene Traylor, their director of safety, security, and risk management, on May 13, 2023. This lawsuit, the fourth to be filed against the team in the past seven months, claims that Traylor was demoted after presenting the management with critical risk assessments, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/docs-reveal-facebook-and-twitter-collaborated-with-dhs-and-fbi-to-police-so-called-disinfo\/\" title=\"Docs Reveal Facebook and Twitter Collaborated With DHS and FBI to Police So-Called &quot;Disinfo&quot;\">including issues related<\/a> to the team&#8217;s reputation following <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >incidents involving players<\/a>. Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Traylor was discouraged from taking medical leave after a cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>One point of contention in the lawsuit involves a claim that Traylor informed Suns and Mercury CEO Josh bartelstein about rumors spread by another employee regarding Bartelstein&#8217;s alleged affair with former Mercury player Sophie Cunningham. This allegation quickly gained traction on social media, prompting a strong denial from both the Suns organization and Cunningham, who asserted that the claims are false and have impacted her reputation.<\/p>\n<p>The Suns denied any wrongdoing in traylor&#8217;s claims and have responded to the lawsuit by attempting to discredit it&#8217;s representation. The situation has attracted public attention due to the mix of legal, personal, and reputational issues surrounding the team and its executives.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>An explosive lawsuit against the Phoenix Suns includes a salacious nugget about a WNBA player and a current executive &mdash; an allegation that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-slams-hr-mcmaster-after-he-accused-him-appeasing-putin\/\" title=\"Trump slams HR McMaster after he accused him appeasing Putin\">team strongly denies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/45167194\/suns-being-sued-employee-fourth-seven-months\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According<\/a> to ESPN, the beleaguered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/phoenix-suns-get-new-owner-largest-sale-league-history-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Suns<\/a> (the franchise has faced four lawsuits from members of the organization brought against them in the last seven months) was sued in the U.S. District Court in Arizona on May 13.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit was filed by Gene Traylor, the Suns&rsquo; director of safety, security, and risk management, who had been in the position since the start of 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Traylor&rsquo;s job was to assess all manner of risks for the franchise &mdash; ranging from the expected safety and financial concerns, to the more abstract, like reputational risks.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, he gave the team a presentation outlining a trio of critical risks he had assessed, including a theft, a photo-op incident, and the time Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-brittney-griners-team-making-travel-adjustments-confronted-viral-airport-incident\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">harassed<\/a>&rdquo; at an airport in 2023.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>(The ownership group that owns the Suns also own the Mercury.)<\/p>\n<p>Traylor claims that this presentation apparently incensed Suns management, who retaliated against him by demoting him a year later, while he was allegedly discouraged from taking protected leave after a cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, ESPN notes that the Suns&rsquo; first response to this lawsuit was to discredit one of the lawyers representing Traylor.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn&rsquo;t until a different bit of information surfaced from the whole situation that triggered a much more forceful response from the Suns.<\/p>\n<p>As the New York Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/05\/20\/sports\/sophie-cunningham-accused-of-having-affair-with-suns-mercury-ceo-in-bombshell-lawsuit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a>, Traylor claims he also informed Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein that a different employee, vice president of security and risk management Cornelius Craig, was spreading rumors that Bartelstein was sleeping with former Mercury star Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When Bartelstein asked Plaintiff to reveal what Craig was saying, Plaintiff explained that Craig had been telling others, &lsquo;Josh Bartelstein is f***ing Sophie Cunningham,&rsquo;&rdquo; the lawsuit read.<\/p>\n<p>That part of the lawsuit quickly gained traction, especially on social media.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has been named in the latest lawsuit against the Suns.<\/p>\n<p>She&rsquo;s accused of having an AFFAIR with the team&rsquo;s CEO&hellip; who&rsquo;s still married. &#128563;<\/p>\n<p>A thread &#129525; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tF2AAPZPPi\">pic.twitter.com\/tF2AAPZPPi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kicks (@kicks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kicks\/status\/1924507222500884914?\">May 19, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Suns found nothing funny about the now-viral claims regarding the team&rsquo;s married CEO.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The recent reports concerning Josh Bartelstein and Sophie Cunningham are entirely false and morally reprehensible,&rdquo; Suns senior vice president of communications Stacey Mitch told the Post.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham denied these allegations, as <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/05\/21\/sports\/sophie-cunningham-denies-allegations-she-had-an-affair-with-suns-mercury-exec\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">noted<\/a> by the Post, but it&rsquo;s not the only recent controversy she&rsquo;s found herself entangled in &mdash; seemingly through no fault of her own.<\/p>\n<p>The Mercury, the team that drafted and signed her, traded Cunningham to the Indiana Fever in February.<\/p>\n<p>That meant Cunningham was a part (she did not play as she is nursing an injury) of the Fever&rsquo;s 93-58 rout of the rival Chicago Sky on May 17.<\/p>\n<p>That game, bizarrely, has somehow become embroiled in a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/espn-wnba-trying-stir-racism-controversy-caitlin-clark-humiliated-angel-reese\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">racism<\/a>&rdquo; controversy.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ]; 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( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sensational lawsuit against the Phoenix Suns features a scandalous claim involving a WNBA player and a current executive, which the team vehemently denies. As reported by ESPN, the troubled Suns have been hit with four lawsuits from within their organization in just seven months. The latest suit was filed on May 13 in U.S. District Court in Arizona by Gene Traylor, who has served as the team&#8217;s director of safety, security, and risk management since early 2023. Traylor&#8217;s role involved evaluating various risks for the franchise, including safety and financial issues as well as reputational concerns. In his 2023 presentation to the team, he highlighted three significant risks: a theft incident, a photo-op issue, and an instance where Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was &#8220;harassed&#8221; at an airport that year.<\/p>\n<p>Traylor alleges that this presentation angered Suns management leading to his demotion after one year and discouragement from taking protected leave following his cancer diagnosis. Interestingly, ESPN notes that initially the Suns attempted to undermine one of Traylor&#8217;s lawyers before responding more forcefully when additional information emerged regarding rumors spread by another employee about CEO Josh Bartelstein allegedly having an affair with former Mercury star Sophie Cunningham.<\/p>\n<p>The allegations quickly gained traction online after being reported by outlets like the New York Post. The Suns reacted strongly against these claims about their married CEO; Stacey Mitch, senior vice president of communications for the team stated they were &#8220;entirely false and morally reprehensible.&#8221; Cunningham has denied these allegations but has faced other controversies recently unrelated to her actions; she was traded from her original team to Indiana Fever earlier this year while recovering from an injury during their recent game against Chicago Sky which also sparked its own controversy related to racism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2438941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cunningham.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[9348,4585,4633,34619,7188],"class_list":["post-2438940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-affair","tag-lawsuit","tag-scandal","tag-sports-news","tag-wnba"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Cunningham.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2438940"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2438944,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2438940\/revisions\/2438944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2438941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2438940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2438940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2438940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}