![\"Sophie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1920x1080-2026-08-19T215346.948.png\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JULY 18: Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever reacts against the New York Liberty during the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 18, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Bobby Goddin\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The popularity of Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham is skyrocketing, as the sharpshooting wing has now surpassed her teammate Caitlin Clark in Instagram followers.<\/p>\n
According to Essentially Sports<\/a>, Cunningham gained nearly a million followers in the last month or so after her comments on transgender participation in the WNBA thrust her into the national spotlight.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Sophie Cunningham keeps growing at her current pace, she could realistically catch Angel Reese\u2019s Instagram follower count by September or October,\u201d read a report on X.<\/p>\n Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese remains the most popular WNBA star on social media with a little over 5.2M followers on IG.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 Sophie Cunningham Is Officially the No. 2 Most-Followed WNBA Player on Instagram! \ud83c\udfc0\ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n She has just passed her Indiana Fever teammate Caitlin Clark and is now sitting at roughly 4.1 million followers.<\/p>\n Even crazier? Sophie Cunningham has added nearly 1 million followers on <\/p>\n Sophie Cunningham Excels in Role<\/p>\n Cunningham has been making waves both on and off the court. While Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are Fever\u2019s best players, Cunningham has excelled in her role as a spark plug off the bench, driving Indiana\u2019s midseason turnaround.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old has averaged 8.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 22.7 minutes, including 1.6 made threes at an excellent clip of 43%. She has found herself in the running to win the WNBA\u2019s 6th Player of the Year honor.<\/p>\n Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaun, averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists off the bench, remains the favorite to win the award, but Cunningham could strengthen her case if the Fever (26-14) can finish as a top-3 seed. However, PFSN\u2019s Michael Macasero<\/a> fears Cunningham could lose votes over her comments on trans participation in the WNBA, which sparked significant backlash from league journalists.<\/p>\n \u201cCunningham has a legitimate case for the award, and the Fever clearly believes her numbers make that case,\u201d write Macasero. \u201cBut with her name already tied to one of the WNBA\u2019s most divisive debates, even a campaign for an individual honor has become part of a more polarizing conversation.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Cunningham\u2019s play will have to do the talking while the debate around her continues off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sportswriter with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JULY 18: Sophie Cunningham #8 of the Indiana Fever reacts against the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-879631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879631","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=879631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}