Sophie Cunningham Clarifies She Wanted to Stay in Indiana for Her Teammates and Her Donkey

With the WNBA season just a few weeks away, there’s no shortage of intriguing storylines to follow this year: Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd reunited on the Wings, the Liberty not-so-quietly building their superteam during free agency and... Sophie Cunningham raising her donkey in Indiana.

Cunningham is returning to the Fever on a one-year, $665,000 deal, the team announced earlier this month. While many other players in the W have received seven-figure salaries thanks to the new CBA, the Fever guard—who’s rehabbing a season-ending injury she suffered last August—wasn’t able to cash in quite as much.

Amid swirling rumors that Cunningham wasn’t happy with her short-term deal, she took to social media to set the record straight:

“I’m gonna shut this down right now. I’m not mad about the money….” Cunningham wrote on X. “I just wanted more years because I love it here. I wanted to get a house so I could bring my dog and donkey to Indy with me. That’s it. That’s the truth. I think we have something very special here in Indiana!!”

I’m gonna shut this down right now. I’m not mad about the money…. I just wanted more years because I love it here. I wanted to get a house so I could bring my dog and donkey to Indy with me. That’s it. That’s the truth. I think we have something very special here in Indiana!! https://t.co/xq7HZ2ZDbF
— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) April 21, 2026

Here’s a video of said donkeys, whose names appear to be Kevin and Mark:

Brutus, Kevin, and Mark pic.twitter.com/l1EZ7ngZUD
— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) April 21, 2026

Cunningham elaborated on her tweet during a media appearance on Tuesday, noting that she received multi-year offers elsewhere but ultimately chose to remain with the Fever:

“I just wanted to be somewhere for more than one year. I’m almost 30 years old, I want to have a home, I want to get established. And I would love to get established in a place like Indiana. ... The internet’s doing what the internet does and it’s trying to stir things up. It made me sound snotty and ungrateful and that is the last thing I ever want. ... It was never about the money, it was just about the years. God forbid a girl loves her teammates.”

What Sophie Cunningham said about her one-year deal with the Fever

When news broke that Cunningham was re-signing in Indiana, Fever fans were mostly happy the team’s offense was going to maintain its chemistry and continuity heading into 2026. Cunningham, too, appeared excited about running it back with Caitlin Clark and co. and said, “I have a feeling this is going to be another special season, so I’m excited to get things started and to, of course, keep playing in front of the best fans in the WNBA. Let’s get spicy!”

But a little over a week after Cunningham’s deal was announced, she made some eyebrow-raising comments about her offseason negotiations with presumably the Fever and other WNBA teams. On the latest episode of her podcast, Show Me Something, Cunningham was asked whether her new deal was better than she thought it’d be. She immediately made a face and shook her head.

“It’s tough because I came off an injury, and I haven’t been in front of any teams,” Cunningham said. “... I was fully cleared, they had all the doctors, they had the numbers and everything, but if you don’t get in front of people then it’s like, ‘Are you actually good?’ I’m not even gonna lie to you, that was a little kind of frustrating.

“... I’m just at the point in my career where I just want to win. I just want to win. I’m not going to put my ego and everything in front of things. ... It was a little weird, but you know what, I think this is a great wake-up call to not get comfortable, I think it kind of lit a fire under my a-- even more.”

Sophie Cunningham is not stoked about the contract she signed with the Indiana Fever in free agency

“I’m not even gonna lie… it’s a little, kind of, frustrating.”

🎥: @ShowMe_Pod pic.twitter.com/WlCvJ0fdQT
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) April 20, 2026

Following her first season with the Fever in 2025, Cunningham intentionally left the door open this offseason on whether she would return to the team.

“I might be blonde, but I can't just not look at other opportunities,” she comically said in her end-of-season press conference.

The 29-year-old guard averaged 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds before tearing her MCL in her right knee in August. Though she may not have gotten the contract terms she was looking for from the Fever, she’ll likely continue to profit from off-the-court sponsorships and deals as she did last year (she notably partnered with the home security company Ring after developing a reputation as Caitlin Clark’s enforcer.) Cunningham will also be the only active player taking on a media role in the WNBA, as she’s set to make her broadcasting debut this year as a member of USA Network’s studio coverage.

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