Sophie Cunningham sends rest of WNBA strong message about Indiana Fever

Sophie Cunningham is in her first season with the Indiana Fever. She’s seen her star turn playing alongside Caitlin Clark, after spending the previous six years with the Phoenix Mercury.

Fans of the Fever have begged for someone to step up to the competition and protect their star player in Clark. Cunningham took the opportunity and ran with it, not allowing the former Iowa star to get pushed around any longer. While that’s endeared her to casual fans and Indiana’s finest, the rest of the WNBA and many analysts aren’t into it.

As she prepares for a clash with the Dallas Wings on Friday, Cunningham sent a message to the rest of the league. She recognizes that the Fever have a target on their back night in and night out, but they’re embracing it at the moment.

“I think so far this season, we’ve had a lot of distractions. Some injuries. Don’t know who’s playing. Just a lot of distractions. But I think that’s really good for us,” Cunningham stated, via the Indy Star. “Let’s go through the adversity early. Let’s learn from it. Good news is we’re not going to peak too early, so I mean, that’s a positive. It’s not an excuse. Everyone’s playing a back-to-back. Everyone has this kind of rough schedule. For us, we get another opportunity tomorrow, and we’ve got to capitalize on it. Dallas is a team that’s hungry for a win.

“We’ve talked about this, we’re circled on everybody’s schedule. No one likes us, right? So, everyone in our locker room? That’s the only type of people that we have that we can lean on. We’ve got to be better in that area. We have got to stay disciplined, we have to stay focused, we need to get consistent and we’ve got to lean on each other. I think that we’ve kind of wavered a little bit on that. We have our own islands.

“As one of the leaders on the team, I’ve gotta do a better job for this group of people. … We’ve just gotta get better, from top to bottom. The schedule thing, that’s just an excuse. We’re in this league, we’re pros and you’ve gotta be a pro. Tomorrow, we’ve gotta bring it.”

With that mentality, there’s no telling how high the Fever can climb. Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark, along with players like Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, have made Indiana a must-see team, and we’ll see if they can get back to .500 against Dallas on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.