Sophie Cunningham, the seasoned WNBA guard who joined the Indiana Fever for the 2025 season, has spent the offseason unpacking what sharing the court with Caitlin Clark taught her, not just about basketball, but about team chemistry, resilience, and the challenges facing the league.
The reflections come as the Fever and their fans sort through a season marked by playoff success, injury, and unexpected adversity.
Cunningham‘s arrival in Indiana was met with excitement: a Midwest native returning close to home, bolstering a roster that already had the attention of the basketball world because of Clark‘s meteoric rise.
Though her own season was cut short by injury, Cunningham consistently spoke with candor about her experience in a Fever uniform.
“It’s been so much fun, just being back in the Midwest, I’m back to my roots,” Cunningham said in a recent interview.
“I’m back to being around the people that I grew up around, and then feel most alive … the Indiana Fever was just such a blessing.”
Fever’s season and a bond forged through adversity
For the Fever, 2025 was a collage of promise and frustration. With Clark emerging as a global figure in women’s sports, expectations were sky-high.
Yet injuries, particularly Clark‘s groin trouble, limited her availability, shifting the team’s trajectory in real time.
Cunningham, who missed significant time herself after tearing her MCL in her right knee, did not shy away from acknowledging that reality.
Her voice was one of honesty about both the highs, a playoff run that electrified Indianapolis, and the lows that underscored the fragility of even the most talented lineups.
“We want them to leave here thinking they can do anything,” Cunningham said, painting a picture of a locker room that lived by a message of collective belief.
Her comments come as uncertainty grows around WNBPA negotiations. As league officials and players’ representatives worked toward a new labor agreement, uncertainty over salaries, revenue sharing, and the very structure of the season loomed large.
Players, stars, and veterans alike have emphasized that these off-court negotiations directly influence on-court chemistry and commitment.
Cunningham herself has been vocal in the past about the business side of the sport.
In a November 2025 public appearance, she responded to fans calling for her to re-sign by saying plainly: “Tell them to pay us,” reflecting the financial realities of the WNBA that weigh on players even as they strive for competitive success.
A unique partnership in women’s basketball
Clark‘s impact on the Fever and the league has been indisputable.
Dubbed a generational talent by teammates, Cunningham included, her presence helped catapult the Fever into relevance beyond the traditional WNBA audience.
Cunningham described Clark as someone who “just elevates everyone who’s around her” and noted how the superstar’s personality, part playful, part serious competitor, brought a unique dynamic to the team.
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