Sophie Cunningham fired back at her critics on her podcast Friday after The Athletic published a column urging the Indiana Fever to part ways with the guard. Cunningham told her haters to “suck it,” while her sister echoed her defiance, saying there were “zero f**ks given.”
Lindsey Cunningham came to her sister’s aid online, resharing a post by Fox News on her story and captioning it with a short message.
“Can confirm there are zero f**ks given,” Lindsey Cunningham wrote.
The post by Fox highlighted Cunningham’s response to her haters following a column demanding Indiana exit.
“Sophie Cunningham fires back after a column urges the Indiana Fever to cut ties with her over her outspoken opinions,” Fox News wrote. The WNBA guard responds on her podcast after the piece labels her ‘too combustible,’ arguing that the controversy surrounding her views has overshadowed basketball.
“Cunningham brushes off critics and insists her impact goes beyond the stat sheet.”
The post also highlighted Cunningham’s remarks directed at her critics.
“I literally don’t even care what anyone says about me anymore. Because I’ve said this so many times,” Cunningham said. “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 … It’s not always in the stat sheet. And so, if you don’t like not saying I’m effective or any of that, whatever, suck it.”
Cunningham has become a polarizing figure among the Fever fanbase, with many loving her enforcer energy and tenacity towards the game. However, others believe her approach can disrupt the locker room and have urged Indiana to part ways with her.
Entering free agency this season, Cunningham isn’t holding back, and her two-year association with the Fever could be coming to an end.
Sophie Cunningham receives show of support from podcast co-host following column demanding Fever exit
Sophie Cunningham continues to divide opinions in the WNBA, with the Fever guard drawing some of the biggest audiences. However, this fame has also brought critics, with one particular column turning heads after it asked the Fever to cut ties with its player.
While Cunningham responded to the criticism herself, her podcast co-host Drew Hanlen showed his support for the Fever star on Friday, pointing out that the column had gotten a few things wrong about her.
“I pulled this quote because I did not want to mess this up,” Hanlen said. “‘Even if Cunningham’s effectiveness on the court didn’t shine.’ And the key word was effectiveness, because I was like, wait.
“In the entire WNBA, Sophie was fourth in effective field goal percentage at 60.8%. So questioning your effectiveness when you were the fourth most effective player by definition was crazy.”
While Cunningham continues to come under the microscope, the guard was one of the Fever’s best players and will remain a hot property on the market this offseason.
Edited by Arian Kashyap
