Sophie Cunningham Jokingly Starts GoFundMe For WNBA Fines

12:00 PM PT -- TMZ Sports is told Sophie Cunningham is planning to donate all of the proceeds from the GoFundMe to a Ronald McDonald House charity.

Sophie Cunningham just launched a GoFundMe for a good cause -- raising money to help pay for all her fines from the WNBA ... and it got some folks all worked up before they peeped the fine print.

The Indiana Fever guard shared the campaign on her X page on Thursday ... with a goal of $26,000 to settle her debt with her employer due to penalties she received during the season.

"I could use your help with my fundraiser on GoFundMe," Cunningham said. "Please share, support, or donate -- every small action counts. Might as well have fun with it, huh?"

She was obviously trolling ... but some followers clearly missed the joke (which was made clear on the page).

Cunningham, 29, had to actually set the record straight ... telling everyone on X, "This is a joke. relax you clowns ... I set a goal for 10 million. There’s just no way you can think I'm actually serious."

Cunningham received multiple fines this season -- two for criticizing officials on social media and her podcast, "Show Me Something." Another was for her involvement in an in-game scuffle with Connecticut Sun player Jacy Sheldon.

Joke or not, some fans are opening their wallets. One even contributed $1K ... and as of Thursday, the fund was close to $2K.