Who Is Sophie Cunningham?

My VIP for this week is Sophie Cunningham, the WNBA guard who stood up to defend Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark. According to Jennifer Graham at the Deseret News, a Vanity Fair article says Cunningham has become a “MAGA fixation.” The article noted that Vice President JD Vance praised Cunningham for “speaking her mind” about transgender athletes in women’s sports. The article also noted that Cunningham has “retweeted and like social posts supporting conservative viewpoints,” some by Riley Gaines were included. They claim that Cunningham is MAGA by association. Cunningham claims that she is neither Republican nor Democrat. 

“I’m very much in the middle. I agree with things on both sides, disagree with things on both sides. And that’s all I’ve ever said about my political beliefs. But people love to assume,” Cunningham recently said in an interview with ESPN.

But she does hold views that are more identified with the political right than the left, including remarks she has made about what she wants in a family.

Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham (8) talks to teammate Caitlin Clark (22) during the first half of an WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. [Paul Beaty, Associated Press]

Basketball Network reported that not only does Cunningham want to find a man who is taller than she is (she’s 6-foot-1), but she said recently on a podcast that she wants a husband who can “push me towards Christ.”

“If you’re not about it, and you don’t talk about it, then don’t even talk to me. I have my blinders on…. But my No. 1 thing is I want you to lead our house, lead me, lead our future kids to serve and love a good, good God,” she said.

That statement doesn’t make her MAGA, but it might make her even more controversial than she already is … if the word gets out. Religion writer Terry Mattingly recently pointed out that for all the headlines that Cunningham is making these days, few of the articles mention her religious faith.

Cunningham, who just turned 30 this week, is single and still looking; any interested man who is 6-foot-2 or taller and has a strong Christian faith might want to go to a Fever game with a friendship bracelet for her, a strategy that worked out great for Travis Kelce.