Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons on Monday. This is after she made some strong comments about her new contract on the latest episode of her “Show Me Something” podcast.
Cunningham admitted that she wasn’t entirely happy with her new deal. She later clarified her comments by explaining that her issue is with the length of the new one-year contract. Cunningham expressed her desire to remain in Indiana for the long haul.
The 29-year-old also made it clear that it wasn’t about the money, although the deal's dollar figure has not been made public.
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Fever head coach Stephanie White has now shared her reaction to the issue at hand. The former WNBA Coach of the Year admitted that she did not even know about Cunningham’s podcast comments.
Talking to the press at training camp on Tuesday, Cunningham said that she wants to have her own home and “to get established in a place like Indiana.”
White offered her support to Cunningham.
"Look, it's part of the business," White said, via Kareem Copeland of ESPN. "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?"
White played in the WNBA, too, before she transitioned into coaching. This is why she is familiar with the uncertainty that comes with being a professional basketball player. To a certain extent, White knows exactly what Cunningham is going through at this point in her career.
Apart from wanting to establish her roots in Indianapolis, Cunningham also discussed her personal relationships with her Fever teammates. This is also one of the biggest reasons why she wants to stay in Indiana for more than just one year.
“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,” she said.
It is clear that for Cunningham, her tenure with the Fever goes way beyond basketball. It has become deeply personal for her.
