Aug 21, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve questions a call during the game against the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Sophie Cunningham Makes Her Cheryl Reeve Opinion Extremely Clear

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 2:36 PM ET

The Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx are two of the teams remaining in the 2025 WNBA postseason. However, they've gone through completely different journeys to reach the WNBA Semifinals.

Nobody expected the Fever to make it this far. While they were predicted to be WNBA championship contenders before the 2025 campaign commenced, the absurd amount of injuries they've had to deal with (most notably to star guard Caitlin Clark, who only played in 13 games) made it so most members of the women's basketball community counted Indiana out. Yet, here they are, aiming to go up 2-0 in their semifinals series against the Las Vegas Aces on September 23.

Everybody expected the Lynx to make it this far. Not only did this team come oh so close to winning the 2024 WNBA championship, but they kept all their core pieces from last year's squad and have been the league's most dominant team for the majority of this 2025 season.

While the Lynx's roster deserves a lot of credit, most can agree that head coach Cheryl Reeve is the biggest reason this team contends for a league championship every season. Reeve is arguably already the greatest WNBA coach in history and continues to add to her resumé each season.

Sophie Cunningham Shows Love to Cheryl Reeve

While Reeve has a reputation for being a stern and often unforgiving coach, the way she has welcomed the viral sensation that has become the StudBudz (which is the live-streaming alter ego of Lynx players Courtney Williams and Natisha Hiedeman) has earned her a lot of credit.

Fever star Sophie Cunningham spoke to this during her September 23 appearance on The Young Man and The Three podcast.

"I think that the league has done a great job — and really Minnesota and Cheryl — [with the StudBudz]. Because Cheryl is known for being textbook, kind of old school. But she has really allowed her players to be them, and to have that confidence to do what they want to do off the court. And I think that when you have that confidence to have a life outside of it, and it's happy, and it's fun, you produce on the court, because you're living your best life.

"And so I want to shout out Cheryl and Minnesota, for kind of letting [Williams and Hiedeman] do their thing," she added.

Perhaps Cunningham's Fever and Reeve's Lynx will match up in the WNBA Finals, just like they did in the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Championship (which the Fever won).

This article first appeared on Women's Fastbreak on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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