{"id":42514,"date":"2026-08-13T05:59:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:59:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42514"},"modified":"2026-08-13T05:59:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:59:33","slug":"how-sophie-cunningham-became-a-maga-fixation-and-the-wnbas-lightning-rod","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42514","title":{"rendered":"How Sophie Cunningham Became a MAGA Fixation and the WNBA\u2019s Lightning Rod"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Her season ended early, thanks to an on-court collision\u2014this one accidental\u2014during another matchup against the Sun in August. Cunningham underwent surgery for a torn MCL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">This season, she has brand deals with the likes of Arby\u2019s, European Wax Center, Skims, Spindrift, Mad Hippie, and Commerce Bank. She posed in this year\u2019s <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW4GaWuDZUD\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW4GaWuDZUD\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW4GaWuDZUD\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Sports Illustrated<\/em> swimsuit issue<\/a>, and <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbLTSFzOYd0\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbLTSFzOYd0\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbLTSFzOYd0\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Adidas issued<\/a> a limited player-edition shoe for her. In early July, she popped up as a <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/she-leaning-maga-sophie-cunningham-193905470.html\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/she-leaning-maga-sophie-cunningham-193905470.html&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/she-leaning-maga-sophie-cunningham-193905470.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">guest ring girl at a UFC event<\/a> in Las Vegas. She has a one-year commentating contract with USA Sports this year, with executive producer Jeff Behnke <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/media\/2026\/06\/02\/nba-wnba-players-broadcasters\/90362427007\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/media\/2026\/06\/02\/nba-wnba-players-broadcasters\/90362427007\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/media\/2026\/06\/02\/nba-wnba-players-broadcasters\/90362427007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">telling <em>USA Today<\/em><\/a> they wanted her for her recognizability. \u201cShe says what\u2019s on her mind and she is also really passionate about the game of basketball,\u201d he said. On the court, she\u2019s more visible than ever, too: <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7238558\/2026\/05\/05\/indiana-fever-caitlin-clark-how-to-watch-2026\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7238558\/2026\/05\/05\/indiana-fever-caitlin-clark-how-to-watch-2026\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7238558\/2026\/05\/05\/indiana-fever-caitlin-clark-how-to-watch-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">All 44 of the Fever\u2019s regular season games<\/a> this year are nationally televised or streamed, the only team to get the full-court broadcast press, so to speak. (The league\u2019s defending champions, the Las Vegas Aces, have 33 nationally broadcast games; <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/news\/broadcast-schedule-release-2026\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/news\/broadcast-schedule-release-2026&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wnba.com\/news\/broadcast-schedule-release-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">216 matchups were announced<\/a> on the national broadcast schedule in April 2026.) If someone tunes in to a random WNBA game, odds are high that they\u2019ll see Cunningham play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Flagrant fouls and technical fouls <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.sportico.com\/personalities\/athletes\/2025\/indiana-fever-social-media-sophie-cunningham-followers-fine-1234857419\/\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.sportico.com\/personalities\/athletes\/2025\/indiana-fever-social-media-sophie-cunningham-followers-fine-1234857419\/&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportico.com\/personalities\/athletes\/2025\/indiana-fever-social-media-sophie-cunningham-followers-fine-1234857419\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">come with fines<\/a> owed to the league, but Cunningham is aware that her viral fame is worth more than the cost of those penalties. In an interview on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GcqXm2Bq-jg\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\"><em>Sons &amp; Daughters<\/em> podcast in early July 2026<\/a>, she said as much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cI am not ignorant,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that if you use this platform, you can, once the ball stops bouncing, you\u2019re setting yourself up for success, and the players need to start doing that because we don\u2019t make enough money. Even now, after the CBA, we don\u2019t make enough money to retire and not do anything once we\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Thanks to the transformative new collective bargaining agreement brokered between the players\u2019 union (the WNBPA) and the WNBA, Cunningham got quite the boost in salary this year, in her eighth season in the league: Her new $665,000 contract is just shy of matching her <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/wnba\/player\/earnings\/_\/id\/29939\/sophie-cunningham\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/wnba\/player\/earnings\/_\/id\/29939\/sophie-cunningham&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/wnba\/player\/earnings\/_\/id\/29939\/sophie-cunningham\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">combined salaries for the previous seven seasons<\/a>, beginning with her $42,570 rookie contract with the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">On the podcast, she drew a bright line between bodying Sheldon and her newfound notoriety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cSometimes my sassiness gets the best of me, and it worked in my favor last year and, yeah, companies\u2014I took it and ran with it. I have a great agency that has really good people. And this year, I had no idea that this thing was going to take off because when I\u2019m in it, I\u2019m not thinking about that. I\u2019m just being me, doing whatever dumb stuff that I do. So yeah, it is what it is, and I\u2019m just going to continue to be me, and hopefully good things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Image may contain Blonde Hair Person Face Head Adult Body Part and Neck\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_120,c_limit\/2282517001 120w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_240,c_limit\/2282517001 240w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_320,c_limit\/2282517001 320w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_640,c_limit\/2282517001 640w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_768,c_limit\/2282517001 768w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_960,c_limit\/2282517001 960w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_1280,c_limit\/2282517001 1280w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_1600,c_limit\/2282517001 1600w\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cae19778dc0ba4e76523e\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/2282517001\"\/><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionText-cQpRdU klhnDX hbiMYj caption__text\">Sophie Cunningham points during the game against the Phoenix Mercury at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 22, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/span><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk gsdIcD hRFzlA caption__credit\">Michael Hickey\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Her season ended early, thanks to an on-court collision\u2014this one accidental\u2014during another matchup against the Sun in August. Cunningham underwent surgery for a torn MCL. This season, she has brand deals with the likes of Arby\u2019s, European Wax Center, Skims, Spindrift, Mad Hippie, and Commerce Bank. She posed in this year\u2019s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a7cac2b5003903b5a8fbe34\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/2285453683","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}