Cunningham Thrilled to be Part of “Something Bigger” in Indiana

Cunningham Thrilled to be Part of “Something Bigger” in Indiana

By Madie Chandler | FeverBasketball.com

“My original thought was like, ‘Oh heck yeah,’ like, we’re about to go win a championship,” Sophie Cunningham said on Tuesday.

Cunningham, Indiana’s newest addition in an offseason riddled with talented acquisitions, comes to the Fever via trade with the Phoenix Mercury. That same transaction sent NaLyssa Smith to Phoenix.

All six of Cunningham’s seasons in the WNBA have been with the Mercury.

“I learned a lot out there, but now I’m ready to move on to something bigger, something better,” Cunningham said of Phoenix. “I have a lot of really great players around me to, you know, seriously, go win a championship.”

Cunningham joins DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sydney Colson as the Fever usher in experienced talent to surround franchise centerpieces Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston. As a 6-year veteran of the WNBA, she’s ready to impart any wisdom she’s gained to her new lead guard.

“Diana [Taurasi] took me under her wing, and I’ve learned a lot from her,” Cunningham said of the recently retired Taurasi. “And now I hope to kind of do the same for Caitlin, if she wants it. I just think the relationship piece is huge, and when you’re trying to do something great, it takes everybody.”

Indiana’s front office recognized the team’s need for experience after its return to the playoffs just last season. Kelly Krauskopf and Amber Cox were deliberate in their offseason moves to strengthen the Indiana Fever – they went about collecting players with championship pedigree, players that could help Indiana’s team contend for a championship as soon as this upcoming season.

“You get back to the versatility of our roster when you have a shooter like Sophie, somebody who’s consistently at the top of the league every single year in terms of her effectiveness from beyond the arc. That really helps everybody else too,” Amber Cox, the Fever’s general manager, said on Tuesday.

Cunningham, Bonner, Howard, and Colson bring a combined 43 seasons of experience to Indiana’s locker room – that includes seven WNBA championships. Though Cunningham hasn’t hit the peak of that mountain herself, she’s played alongside multiple all-time greats that know what it takes to reach the top.

Bonner was a veteran player on the Phoenix team that drafted Cunningham in 2019. Now they reunite on a Fever team that is poised to make a deep run at the end of the season.

“Getting her was absolutely huge,” Cunningham said of Bonner. “She was one of my vets when I was a rookie coming in, and she’s no one to mess with…We just have a squad, and our depth is amazing.”

Cunningham shot the 3-point shot at a 37.8 percent clip last season while averaging just over eight points per game. She grabbed nearly four rebounds nightly, and is a career 86 percent free throw shooter.

“I’m just excited,” Cunningham reiterated. “To be honest, I think when you have a group that can let go of the egos, and you’re really just here to win and work hard, I think that’s the best type of group…I think that’s what I’m most excited about. That’s my bread and butter, right there, is to outwork your opponents and have fun doing it.”