Sophie Cunningham's 'New Team' Joke Turns Heads Before Fever Playoff Game
The WNBA playoffs are now upon us, as all four first-round matchups are slated to start on September 14.
The first of these is already underway, as the No. 8-seeded Golden State Valkyries traveled to Minnesota to face the Lynx. The No. 3-seeded Atlanta Dream hosts the No. 6-seeded Indiana Fever in less than 90 minutes, the No. 4-seeded Phoenix Mercury faces the defending champion New York Liberty at home at 5 p.m. ET, and Sunday's close ends with the No. 2-seeded Las Vegas Aces facing the Seattle Storm.
While there's a lot of excitement and intrigue about the postseason, a good deal of the potential hype has diminished because of the injuries that several teams are dealing with, specifically the Fever. The most notable of these injuries is with superstar guard Caitlin Clark, who will miss the rest of the 2025 season because she ran out of time to rehab a groin and an ankle injury.
Clark isn't the only Fever star who's sidelined for the rest of 2025, as Sophie Cunningham suffered a torn MCL during an August 17 game, which required surgery and will take her several months to recover from. Not to mention that the Fever have four other injured and inactive players on Sunday.
Sophie Cunningham Makes 'New Team' Joke Before Fever vs. Dream First-Round Game
Cunningham is quite the comedian at times, which is one reason why she has endeared herself to Fever fans during her lone season with the team. And Cunningham's comedic timing was conveyed while she was entering Atlanta's Gateway Center arena on Sunday, which was captured in a video that was posted on the WNBA's X account.
In the video, Cunningham can be seen wearing a giant brace on her right knee and walking with the Fever's medical staff.
"What's up guys? This is my new team, the medical staff!" Cunningham said to the camera while gesturing to those around her.
"Oh, yeah," Cunningham then added, seemingly savoring her joke.
Sophie got jokes 😆
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 14, 2025
Sophie Cunningham’s keepin’ it light with the medical staff as the @IndianaFever start to arrive for today’s action in ATL.
WNBA Playoffs presented by @Google pic.twitter.com/w8mLZv3iHr
Jokes aside, the Fever will be missing Cunningham's presence against the Dream, as she was one of the primary defenders on Atlanta's elite guard duo of Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.
It will be interesting to see how Stephanie White and the rest of Indiana's coaching staff try to adapt their defensive game plan, as Cunningham (and all of Indiana's other now-injured guards) were healthy when these two teams last faced off on July 11.
In the meantime, at least Cunningham can support her squad from the bench.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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