Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham clarifies contract comments

“I’m at the point in my career where I just want to win,” Cunningham continued. “I’m not going to put my ego in front of things. I know it is a business, but I think I’m just wired a little differently. I don’t know — I just want to win. I think this was a great wake-up call to not get comfortable. It kind of lit a fire under my ass even more.”

The podcast clipped together segments around the contract comments and Cunningham’s health and put a 76-second clip on social media, which was subsequently aggregated by several outlets and handles. Many interpreted her comments to be about the amount of money, which she responded to on X on Monday evening. In the post, she clarified that part of her desire to put down roots was her hope to bring her pet dog and donkey to Indiana.

Cunningham said social media commentary was “trying to stir things up, but they made me sound snotty and ungrateful.”

The Fever are in a unique financial situation. With forward Aliyah Boston and guard Caitlin Clark — two All-WNBA players — entering this season on rookie contracts, Indiana had slightly more money to spend on complementary pieces than if Boston and Clark had been on veteran contracts. However, as part of the new CBA, the Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract provision allowed Boston, who is in the final year of her rookie deal, to renegotiate her fourth-year salary with the Fever. She re-signed with a three-year extension at a veteran salary, boosting her 2026 salary from $574,612 to $1 million. Clark, as a former All-WNBA selection, will be eligible for the same EPIC provision salary jump next season in her fourth year, so the Fever need to be intentional with contract spend and length as they enter 2027 and beyond in order to keep Clark in Indy.

The only players on protected contracts beyond this season are Boston and forward Monique Billings (who signed a $1.6 million, two-year deal with the Fever as a free agent this offseason). Kelsey Mitchell — a three-time WNBA All-Star who was a first-team All-WNBA selection last season and has spent her entire career with the Fever — also signed a one-year deal, though hers was at the player supermax ($1.4 million).

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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