Sophie Cunningham's Family Finally Speaks Out Amid Her Ongoing Backlash

Sports admin October 13, 2026 0 Comments

Sophie Cunningham’s Family Finally Speaks Out Amid Her Ongoing Backlash

Sophie Cunningham had a simple, pointed response to a columnist from The Athletic suggesting that the Indiana Fever would be better off without her during the 2027 WNBA season.

Candance Buckner of The Athletic is arguing that the Fever should not re-sign the 30-year-old guard, who is entering free agency.

“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,” she wrote.

“Go to Chicago, or Portland. Or maybe Toronto could use a 30-year-old unrestricted free agent who averages fewer than 8 points a game, while her latest TikTok videos are good for about 2 million views a pop. Or perhaps expansion Cleveland can take her in 2028, unless of course she hasn’t already dropped basketball entirely by then to become a professional UFC ring girl, or full-time finger-pointer.”

Cunningham, speaking out on her “No Hesitation” podcast, fired back.

“I literally don’t even care what anybody says about me anymore, 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 have never picked up a ball in their entire lives and they’re just like thirsty to like, have attention or be relevant in some type of way. No matter what anybody 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. And so, for you to like, not say I’m effective or any of that, whatever, s-ck it,” she said.

Cunningham’s family, meanwhile, is finally showing some public support for her on social media, too.

Both Cunningham’s sister, Lindsey, and mom, Paula, have posted public messages of support on social media.

Cunningham’s family speaks out amid the backlash

Cunningham’s sister, Lindsey, reportedly posted: “Can confirm there are zero (expletives) given,” in response to the controversy.

Her mother, Paula, responded to a question on X.

“Will you continue to support Sophie Cunningham?” the question read. “Cast your vote.”

Paula responded: “Yes yes yes!”

The Fever appear to be on Cunningham’s side, too

The Fever appear to be interested in re-signing Cunningham, despite what the critics are saying.

“(Sophie) is a really solid leader in the locker room … she brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience. She’s serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it, when we really need to lock in. She’s an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations. She had a really productive year, and we’ll see just where things take us,” Fever GM Amber Cox said.

This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 9:35 AM.