Sophie Cunningham Had Funny Line About Birthdays Leading to Bad Injuries for Fever

This is an unfortunate trend.

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham is out for the season with an MCL tear. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Fever star guard Sophie Cunningham suffered an MCL tear on Sunday, effectively ending her 2025 season. This isn't the first time the injury-ridden Indiana squad has lost a player for the year after Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald both suffered season-ending injuries earlier this month.

Cunningham and Colson's injuries have an eerie coincidence between them, though. Both of their injuries occurred in the first game they played after their respective birthdays. Colson celebrated her birthday on Aug. 6, then suffered her torn left ACL on the 7th; Cunningham celebrated her birthday on Aug. 16, then suffered her MCL tear on the 17th.

This unfortunate trend has now cast some fear amongst the rest of the Fever crew, Cunningham explained on her podcast Show Me Something on Tuesday.

"Sydney had her birthday, the next day we played, she completely tore her ACL. It was my birthday, and we played the next day and then I hurt my knee," Cunningham said. "We still have a couple more birthdays on our team and everyone's like do they play or do they not play?"

The two Fever players with birthdays left in the regular season include Natasha Howard on Sept. 2 and Lexie Hull on Sept. 13. Indiana faces the Mercury on Sept. 2, and then the Fever would be prepping for the playoffs after Hull's birthday. The Fever may need to bubble wrap these two players in case the injury curse hits them, too.

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