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Sophie Cunningham had a blunt response to a column in The Athletic urging the Indiana Fever to cut her loose this off-season: “Suck it.”
On her No Hesitation podcast, Caitlin Clark’s favorite bodyguard fired back at a piece by Athletic columnist Candace Buckner, stating she’s not worth the “circus” she creates around the Fever.
Cunningham, an unrestricted free agent, averaged less than 8 points a game this season coming off the bench, noted Buckner. At the same time, she helped plunge Clark and the Fever into the middle of a culture war over transgender athletes. Put it all together, wrote Buckner, and the Cunningham juice is not worth the squeeze.
“This was the season when the Fever and even the whole Caitlin Clark experience took a backseat to a bench player with big opinions,” she wrote. “So if the Fever ever want to go back to being a basketball team again and follow the lead of rivals openly clashing with the forces trying to hijack their league, then Cunningham has to go.”
The outspoken Cunningham likes to mix it up in public. Sure enough, she had plenty to say on her podcast. Without mentioning Buckner or The Athletic by name, she said her critics are “thirsty” for attention.
“That’s why I literally don’t even care what anyone says about me anymore,” Cunningham said. “Because I’ve said this so many times: If you’re going to live by the praise, you’re going to die by the hate. The majority of these people have never picked up a ball in their entire lives, and they’re just, like, thirsty to have attention or be relevant in some type of way. No matter what anyone says to me, I’m going to continue to do me. I know what I bring to the table. It’s not always in the stat sheet. So for you to not say I’m effective, or any of that, whatever. Suck it.”
The Athletic could not be reached for comment.
Her podcast partner, Drew Hanlen, went further, describing The Athletic story as an “absolute hate piece.” He pointed out Cunningham was the fourth-leading scorer off the bench in the WNBA this season. And a top-5 three-point shooter per field goal percentage. The podcast’s listeners “overwhelmingly” wanted the duo to respond to the article, he added.
Besides The Athletic, Cunningham might have another media war of words on her hands. On her Unsupervised podcast, Sydney Colson, the former Fever guard, seemed to call out Cunningham, saying she ought to be “ashamed” for her transgender comments. “When you say things that are harmful, talking about the trans shit. Nobody respects you. Shut the fuck up. Shut the fuck up. Nobody wants to hear your opinion.”
The feisty Cunningham has become a fan favorite due to her willingness to play “bodyguard” to Clark on and off the court. While Clark avoids politics and just wants to hoop, Cunningham waded into the transgender debate by telling ESPN that young girls “shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Cunningham averaged 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists this season for the Fever, who were eliminated by the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the 2026 WNBA playoffs. But her
one-year, fully guaranteed, $665,000 contract expired at the end of the Fever’s regular season. Over her eight-year WNBA career, she’s earned $1.3 million in salary with the Fever and Phoenix Mercury.
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