Sophie Cunningham on conversation with Cheryl Reeve
Fever’s Sophie Cunningham shares what was discussed between her and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve during their pre-game.
Sports Seriously
The popularity of Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham has skyrocketed this season. She’s become a lightning rod in the media following her comments about transgender athletes in an ESPN profile in July. And as she’s tried to return the focus to basketball, she’s made her feelings known about the future of the WNBA as well.
In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY Sports, Cunningham acknowledged WNBA leadership and the league have been under a high amount of scrutiny this season and the spotlight has only intensified as the debate around transgender athletes continues.
Cunningham said anyone in a position of power has a challenging job, but she believes new leadership might help the WNBA.
Cunningham said the league is changing, and as players have an opportunity to be “trailblazers of what women’s leagues can look like,” it needs leaders who support the growth.
“You do have to have a person in power who is bold, who is confident, who wants the best for the players and not maybe for themselves all the time. So I do feel like, as a whole, that could be a position that’s maybe open at the end of the year, but that’s not my call,” she said. “(Cathy Engelbert’s) done a lot of good things, but with where our league is trying to go, I feel like you just want someone who also wants that. That’s just a hard position to be in, in her shoes, us as players ― we always want more, more, more because we see how good it can be, but … that’s up to Adam Silver at the end of the day.”
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