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Sophie Cunningham isn’t hiding the biggest reason she joined Project B. As she told her podcast cohost West Wilson during the duo’s Thursday episode of “Show Me Something,” the league is paying “a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of money.” On top of that, Cunningham appeared to hint that she could leave the WNBA if Project B takes off, because she would be able to ” see the world, but also be able to come home and still experience what I want to experience.”
Cunningham also shot down reports that the league is funded by investors in Saudi Arabia, but declined to name the “four huge tech companies that are well known” who are investing instead. It’s believed that one of the companies is Sela, an entertainment company based in Saudi Arabia that is owned by the Public Investment Fund.
(The Public Investment Fund is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, and was created in 1971 to facilitate the investing of money for the country’s government.)
Sophie Cunningham appeared to hint at leaving the WNBA
Perhaps more tellingly, Cunningham also seemed to hint at leaving the WNBA if Project B truly comes to fruition. She told West she’s “excited” about the league “because I actually miss traveling the world.” Cunningham previously played in France for seven months, and also played in Australia.
“You just get cultured, it’s fun,” she added. “And I’ve missed it, but I also don’t want to play around. My body can’t handle it. I have other things I want to do that I’m interested in, and so this just gives me the perfect opportunity to go play, get cultured, see the world, but also be able to come home and still experience what I want to experience.”
The proposed schedule for Project B is November-April, and the WNBA recently offered a potential new schedule to players that could see training camp for the league beginning as early as March and running into November (for reference, this year’s season officially ended October 10 when the Finals concluded). That doesn’t give Cunningham — or any player signed to Project B — a lot of time between leagues, and certainly not a lot of time to have off-court experiences.
Cunningham isn’t the only player who has joined the league. Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Mitchell, Leonie Fiebich, and others have all signed up. Few details are available at present.
