Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is responding to a column that urged the team to get rid of her ahead of next season.
The column, written by Candace Buckner of The Athletic, suggested that the Fever should move on from Cunningham this offseason because she has become a distraction. Buckner argued that Cunningham’s play on the court is not enough to justify her presence on the team, as she is too “turbulent.”
On her podcast, Cunningham had a fairly strong response to the article.
“That’s why I literally don’t even care what anyone says about me anymore,” Cunningham said, via Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. “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 people have never picked up a ball in their entire lives, and they’re just, like, thirsty to have attention or be relevant in some type of way. No matter what anyone 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. So for you to not say I’m effective, or any of that, whatever. Suck it.”
Cunningham has largely served as Caitlin Clark’s enforcer on the Fever, and has not been afraid to court controversy both on and off the floor. She averaged 7.9 points per game for Indiana this season, and will be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason. Whether the Fever actually intend to bring her back or not remains to be seen.
