Sophie Cunningham played for the Mercury from 2019-24, before she was traded to the Fever. She has become one of Caitlin Clark's toughest enforcers.
Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever wasted no time using her new podcast "Show Me Something'' to defend teammate Caitlin Clark.
Cunningham, formerly of the Phoenix Mercury, had some scathing words for Clark's critics on the debut episode on July 30.
In a discussion with the podcast's co-host and reality TV personality West Wilson, Cunningham said she gets triggered when she hears people dispute that Clark is the driving force behind the WNBA's rise in popularity.
"It literally p----s me off when people are like, 'She's not the face of the league,'' Cunningham said.
"What?" she said. "No, there's really good, well-known people in our league. I'm not discrediting them. We have a lot of bad asses in our league. Hell yeah to that. I'm all for that. But when people try to argue that she's not the face of our league, or that they would be where they're at without her, you're dumb as s---."
Clark was drafted No. 1 overall by Indiana in the 2024 draft. She joined the league after she led Iowa to two straight national championship appearances and broke Hall of Famer Pete Maravich's 54-year all-time college scoring record. She helped drive television ratings for college women's games and the WNBA.
After six years with the Mercury, Cunningham was traded to the Fever (15-12) in a four-team deal on Feb. 2. That deal brought in the Mercury's All-Stars Satou Sabally from the Dallas Wings and Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun.
Cunningham also said Clark, who has been sidelined with a groin injury, receives too much physicality from her opponents. She even spoke candidly about her former team, the Mercury, taking it too far with Clark last season.
"You have seen players in our league try to toughen up Caitlin," Cunningham said. "Even when I wasn't on her team, I know the talks that the (Phoenix Mercury) had in the locker room of, like, 'We're going to show her what the W really is.' You know what I mean? And, I get it to a certain extent, and every rookie coming into the league, that's how you're going to treat them. But there's just more for her.
"It's her second year, and now being on her team and seeing it, I'm like, 'What are people doing?' Actually, it's just too much, too much. I'm over it, and if I'm saying it's too much, then it's probably too much."
Cunningham has gained a reputation as Clark's toughest enforcer after a dust-up with Jayce Sheldon of the Connecticut Suns after Sheldon pushed Clark to the floor during a heated exchange earlier in the game. During the fourth quarter's final minute, Cunningham grabbed Sheldon's head as she went up for a fast-break layup. Cunningham and Sheldon were ejected.
Cunningham said that the incident caused her social media followers to rise from 200,000 on TikTok and 350,000 on Instagram to over one million on each platform overnight.
Cunningham also called Clark a "goofy" personality away from the court, and likened Clark as her "little cousin."
Cunningham scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench in the Fever's 107-101 home win over the league's third-place Mercury (16-10) on July 30.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sophie Cunningham says Mercury put 'more' physicality on Caitlin Clark
Category: Basketball
