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Fever's Sophie Cunningham Shares Excitement About Mentoring 'Baby GOAT' Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever standout Sophie Cunningham is keen to take "Baby GOAT" Caitlin Clark under her wing.
Grant Young|
Jul 19, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Mercury player Sophie Cunningham participates skills challenge during the WNBA All-Star Skills Night at the Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jul 19, 2024; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Mercury player Sophie Cunningham participates skills challenge during the WNBA All-Star Skills Night at the Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

On January 31, news broke that the Indiana Fever were part of a four-team trade that sent former Dallas Wings star Satou Sabally to the Phoenix Mercury, DiJonai Carrington and former Fever player NaLyssa Smith to the Wings, and brought former Mercury wing Sophie Cunningham to Indiana, along with several other player and draft pick exchanges between teams.

Cunningham seems like a great fit for the Fever for several reasons. Not only is she a consistent shooter and solid defender, but she's an outspoken advocate of Fever star Caitlin Clark, giving her praise at every possible opportunity.

This became the case once again during Cunningham's March 26 interview with Yahoo! Sports' Caroline Fenton.

"I just think she has that same mindset that D[iana Taurasi] has," Cunningham said. "And I've learned a lot on how to be a pro and how to get to where I want to be with D every single day, and how she just does things. I was a sponge around her, I saw her habits, her dos and her don'ts.

"When you have someone like Caitlin, she doesn't need a lot of help, right?" Cunningham added. "She already knows how to play the game... she has an itch and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win. But I think again, you don't know what you don't know. And in our league, it's all about experience, it's about people taking you under their wing and helping you out. And so I've always said, if she wants that, I'm going to be there for her."

Cunningham later added, "I also want to make sure that she's good off the court, as well. So I'm hoping that she leans on me if she wants it, and I think that's why I'm so excited, is because I've been blessed to see what it looks like under the GOAT, and now you're going to the Baby GOAT whose been all the eyes are on her, all around the world."

"Baby GOAT" is certainly a fitting nickname for Clark at this point in her career.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever 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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