INDIANAPOLIS -- Sophie Cunningham couldn't help but grin Tuesday as she cleared the air about comments she made on her podcast Monday about not getting a multiyear deal with the Indiana Fever.
The eight-year veteran guard was adamant she wasn't complaining after signing a one-year, $665,000 contract.
"It made me sound snotty and ungrateful, and that is the last thing I ever want," Cunningham said Tuesday. "I am so grateful. I know I'm coming off a pretty big knee injury, and so it was never about the money. It was just about the years, because I wanted to be with them. God forbid, a girl loves her teammates."
A clip circulated on social media of Cunningham expressing frustration on her podcast that she wasn't offered multiple years when she believed she has established herself at this point in her career. "I'm not even going to lie to you," Cunningham said on the podcast, "that was a little kind of frustrating."
That, however, didn't include the context of Cunningham acknowledging she was coming off a season-ending torn MCL suffered last season. She said that, despite being cleared by doctors, she felt there was some hesitation by the Fever to sign her long term because of the injury.
Cunningham said she was fully cleared in February and that she feels great.
She averaged 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 43.2% from beyond the arc in her first season with the Fever. She is ready to put down roots and wanted to do that in Indianapolis with this group of teammates.
Cunningham said she received multiyear offers from other teams.
"I'm almost 30 years old," Cunningham said Tuesday. "I want to have a home. I want to kind of get established. And I would love to get established in a place like Indiana. We had such a great time. When you find a group of girls who really make you fall in love with basketball again, and you enjoy it and you enjoy them -- not only on the court, but off the court -- you want to hold on to that. And so that's what I meant by that.
"All of them this morning, they're like, 'We know exactly what you meant.' The internet is doing what the internet does, and it's trying to stir things up."
Both Cunningham and Kelsey Mitchell said this week that they spoke to several teammates during the free agency process and the core group wanted to stay together. The Fever advanced to the semifinal playoff round in 2025 despite losing Caitlin Clark, Cunningham, Sydney Colson, Aari McDonald and Chloe Bibby to season-ending injuries.
"I think we do have something special here, and you just want to be a part of that," Cunningham said. "You have a lot of greatness."
Coach Stephanie White said she didn't even know about the podcast comments.
"Look, it's part of the business," White said. "Players, they want to know where they're going to be, of course. They want to know where they are. And organizations want to make sure that they're making the right decisions for now and for the long term. So, clarifying that is important, certainly, but at the same time, they're human beings. They feel things and they want things just like all of us. All of us want job security, right?"
