![\"Sophie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_GettyImages-2228814487.jpg\")
Sophie Cunningham spoke candidly about the WNBA’s future(Image: Getty)<\/p>\nFree agent guard Sophie Cunningham opened up about the WNBA\u2019s uncertain future as the league faces major questions ahead of next seasonSophie Cunningham spoke candidly about the WNBA’s future(Image: Getty)<\/p>\n
Veteran guard Sophie Cunningham didn\u2019t mince words when asked about the future of the WNBA, as the league remains deadlocked in negotiations with the WNBA players’ union over the College Bargaining Agreement (CBA).<\/p>\n
Fresh off a season-ending MCL tear and now a free agent, Cunningham delivered one of the most unvarnished assessments yet of where the league<\/a> stands, and where it might be headed.<\/p>\n The 29 year-old Cunningham was speaking with Front Office Sports at a Manhattan sports bar, shortly after an LPGA appearance as Caitlin Clark\u2019s caddy<\/a>. She was traded to the Indiana Fever<\/a> for the 2025 season, and averaged 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds this year before her injury sidelined her.<\/p>\n READ MORE: NBA gambling investigation takes turn as Congress puts league under increased scrutiny<\/a>READ MORE: LeBron James vents fury as South Carolina star shoved by Texas trooper<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThere is a lot of uncertainty,\u201d Cunningham said candidly. \u201cWith CBA, with the money, if we\u2019re even going to have a league next year. And then if people want to come back, we\u2019re trying to keep our core together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut, you know, when money is waved in people\u2019s faces, you just never know. And so, if we do, I think that we just have to stay healthy. We have to keep building, day by day. And I think we have a good shot.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about her own future with the Fever, she admitted the situation remains up in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, we\u2019re all still keeping in touch, but obviously there\u2019s not a lot. There\u2019s really not a lot to talk about on there and on our end until there\u2019s a new CBA. And I think that\u2019s how it is across the league.\u201d<\/p>\n The crux of Cunningham\u2019s concern lies with the stalled CBA negotiations between players and league executives.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the last meeting was about two weeks ago,\u201d she said. \u201cI know our execs are talking with their people every single day. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been much movement. I think at least there\u2019s communication. So that\u2019s the biggest thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Those negotiations carry high stakes: salaries, revenue-sharing, and even the basic sustainability of the league over the next season are on the line.<\/p>\n Cunningham questioned the long-term model: \u201cIt sounds good and they can always wave a big number in your face. But what happens when the business continues to go up? Does that mean our salaries are going to continue to go up, or will they stay the same? And I think that\u2019s been our biggest thing, revenue share.\u201d<\/p>\n She also weighed in on the rise of alternative opportunities such as \u201cProject B,\u201d a newly announced up-start women\u2019s basketball league offering multi-million-dollar contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know too much about it. You know, you see stuff on social media, but I also know how social media goes. So you got to take it with a grain of salt. But, you know, if people are going to be paying you multi-million dollar deals, why would you not?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free agent guard Sophie Cunningham opened up about the WNBA\u2019s uncertain future as the league faces major questions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,2803,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-288492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-indiana-fever","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Indiana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_sophie-cunningham-GettyImages-2230095190.jpg\")
Sophie Cunningham played one season with the Indiana Fever before becoming an unrestricted free agent(Image: Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Caitlin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_GettyImages-2246403128.jpg\")
Caitlin Clark was joined by teammates Lexie Hull and Sophie Cunningham at The Annika pro-am on Wednesday(Image: Douglas P. DeFelice\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n