Aug 17, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) warms up before the start of the game against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images David Butler II-Imagn Images

Sophie Cunningham's Confession About 'Getting Baby Fever' Raises Eyebrows

Originally posted on Indiana Fever on SI | By Grant Young | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 11:19 AM ET

Women's athletes have it harder than their male counterparts in a multitude of ways. One of the most obvious ones is that their bodies are responsible for gestation, which is a fancy way of saying it's their job to carry their child in their womb during pregnancy.

While an expecting father doesn't have any aspect of their athletic lives impacted by the pregnancy process, this couldn't be any more different for an expecting mother. And when it comes to professional athletes, they have to put their entire careers on hold for the nine or so months it takes for their child to be born, not to mention everything that comes during and after giving birth.

For women's basketball players, getting pregnant almost always means a player will miss an entire season. A recent example of this is Las Vegas Aces standout Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, who announced she was pregnant during the last WNBA offseason. Although Parker-Tyus is extraordinary because she ultimately made her 2025 season debut on September 9, just 70 days after giving birth, and is now competing in the WNBA Finals.

Other WNBA stars who have missed with because of pregnancy in the past are Dearica Hamby (who was traded from the Aces to the Sparks shortly after getting pregnant in 2022, which sparked a lawsuit), Skylar Diggins (who missed the 2019 and 2023 seasons because of her having two kids), and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who only played four games in 2022 because she had a kid.

All of this is to say that women's basketball players have a lot of things they must weigh when deciding if, and when, they want to get pregnant.

Sophie Cunningham Makes "Baby Fever" Comment

The prospect of pregnancy seems to be on Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham's mind, as she spoke about it directly during an October 7 episode of her Show Me Something podcast.

After Cunningham was asked whether she's going to be on aunt duty this offseason (because her sister just had a child), she responded by saying, "Dude, I've been on aunt duty. And it's been so fun.

"I'm getting baby fever, so the world needs to watch out," Cunningham then added with a laugh.

After her co-host was incredulous at this statement, she kept laughing and added, "I think [being on aunt duty] is also really great birth control, cause like," before trailing off.