It’s been quite the interesting year for Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
The 28-year-old Missouri alum as traded along with Jaelyn Brown to Indiana from the Phoenix Mercury on Jan. 31 in a four-team deal that sent NaLyssa Smith to the Dallas Wings and the No. 8 overall pick in the 2025 draft to the Connecticut Sun, who took NC State guard Saniya Rivers.
She’s missed five games this season with an ankle injury that she initially suffered during the preseason, and in May she was named accused of having an affair with Phoenix Suns and Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein during her time with the team — an accusation she’s since vehemently denied.
But the incident Cunningham will likely be remembered for most this year came back on June 17 during an 88-71 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
In that game, Cunningham was ejected in the final minute after grabbing Sun guard Jacy Sheldon by the head in the paint and flinging her out of bounds. The incident came not long after Sheldon was hit with a flagrant foul for poking Fever star Caitlin Clark in the eye during the third quarter.
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Though Sheldon drew a foul for her actions, Cunningham’s retaliation was a moment many fans took as her way of saying the Fever wouldn’t continue to tolerate the increased level of physicality that Clark had been getting from seemingly every opponent.
During the debut episode of her new podcast “Show Me Something,” which she hosts with Bravo star West Wilson, Cunningham revealed Clark’s reaction to her teammate taking a stand for her.
“I was [sticking up for Clark],” Cunningham stated. “But in the locker room she goes, I think she was like, ‘Finally! Finally someone else [stands up for me].’ I was like, ‘Dude I got you.’ But I think that kind of had our team come together as a whole, and it really was (awesome). I feel like everyone was like, ‘We do have to protect each other.'”
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Cunningham’s viral moment has earned her a reputation as the Fever’s enforcer.
In addition to Cunningham’s jersey selling out 24 hours after the Sheldon incident, she also admitted that her celebrity has skyrocketed as well, acknowledging the dramatic increase in her social media followers after the Sun game.
“I went from 200,000 on TikTok before the fight, and then I had like 350,000 on Instagram — over the night, over a million on both,” Cunningham stated. “… I’ve worked my whole life to become a WNBA basketball player, and now people know me as WWE. Doesn’t that mean that being my natural, feisty, sassy self would put me where God wanted me.”