Fever's Sophie Cunningham Prioritizes Production over Popularity

In the aftermath, Cunningham's popularity has skyrocketed, as evidenced by increased jersey sales, a massive uptick in social media followers, and, most recently, a new endorsement with Ring Home Security Cameras poking fun at her role as an enforcer.

While Cunningham's ascending popularity has made her a household name in the WNBA, the seventh-year guard is directing her focus elsewhere.

"I didn't mean for it to blow up like that -- I didn't mean for it to blow up at all," Cunningham told media ahead of Tuesday night's Commissioner's Cup Final. "At the end of the day, I'm here to focus on basketball. I'm so not satisfied with how I'm playing. I'm so annoyed by it to be honest."

Cunningham was brought in to bolster Indiana's backcourt and help elevate the Clark-led squad to that of a true postseason contender. While she's provided a spark at times, the stats don't leap off the page -- 5.6 PPG in 11 games played.

PIE (Player Impact Estimate) is an advanced metric that measures a player's overall contribution. Cunningham's 6.2 PIE ranks 9th out of 12 Fever players this season, placing her behind other role players like Aari McDonald, Damiris Dantas, and even DeWanna Bonner.

"I just need to dial in, focus on my shot, focus on getting back to where I was before I got injured," Cunningham elaborated.

Cunningham has missed 5 games due to injury this season, held out of the lineup for the season opener with a right-ankle injury before re-aggravating that very same ankle on May 30 against the Sun, ultimately sidelined for 4 more games.

In her first 4 games of the regular season, Cunningham averaged 6.5 PPG while shooting 36.4% from deep. Since returning to play on June 14, she's averaging 5.1 PPG with a 32.0 3P%. It's not a drastic drop-off by any means, but Cunningham's remarks imply she hasn't yet settled into a groove since rejoining the lineup.

The back of her basketball card would indicate she's got more to her game than what's been put on display thus far in 2025.

Cunningham averaged double figures in back-to-back seasons as a regular starter with the Phoenix Mercury, following up a career-high 12.6 PPG in 2022 with 11.3 PPG in 2023. Even in her final season with Phoenix before joining the Fever, Cunningham put up 8.4 PPG while starting 21 games.

Her energy has been a welcome addition off the bench, but Indiana could certainly benefit from more consistent production.

That's not to say that she should abandon her "enforcer" mentality. And based on some of her comments over the last month, it's something she's embracing.

"This is all super fun. I think it's cool to show young boys and girls that it's cool to stand up for your teammates, to stand up for your friends," Cunningham acknowledged. "But my mind is, I need to start scoring the ball."

With Clark set to miss a third straight game with a left groin injury, Cunningham and the Fever backcourt must shoulder a higher workload once again as they square off against the league-leading Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner's Cup Final.