{"id":178453,"date":"2025-09-24T11:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/178453\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T11:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T11:43:08","slug":"sophie-cunningham-makes-feelings-clear-on-being-a-draymond-green-like-enforcer-for-caitlin-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/178453\/","title":{"rendered":"Sophie Cunningham Makes Feelings Clear on Being a Draymond Green-Like Enforcer for Caitlin Clark"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Indiana Fever have spent most of the season defying odds, being the underdogs, and continuing their grind. They\u2019ve been riddled with injuries and setbacks, yet have found ways to stay relevant in the WNBA<\/a> playoffs. Among those affected have been their star players, Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n

Cunningham, who tore her MCL in August, has not just been a vocal presence around the team but has stayed closer to Clark. Their connection has been a storyline all year. And now, Cunningham is drawing attention for candid comments on her role, including comparisons to NBA<\/a>\u2019s Golden State Warriors\u2019 Draymond Green.<\/p>\n

Sophie Cunningham Draws Comparisons With Draymond Green and Her \u201cEnforcer\u201d Role<\/p>\n

Speaking on The Young Man and the Three podcast<\/a>, Cunningham explained that while she isn\u2019t officially the Fever\u2019s enforcer, she does feel a responsibility to protect Clark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying I am that role. I promise you I\u2019m not. I had my intrusive thoughts got the best of me one time,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was saying [was] giving him his flowers because when you are on a team with a superstar, people do go for them. I don\u2019t care what anyone says, there is a different type of effort and extra-ness to try to maybe get in their head or try to throw them off their rhythm \u2026 and a majority of the time those superstars, they don\u2019t have that kind of feisty or sassiness to kind of back themselves up, and they need their teammates to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Cunningham admitted she has \u201cfirsthand seen it this year\u201d with Clark, and her instinct has been to step in when necessary. \u201cAlright, if we\u2019re not going to protect our star, someone has to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is Sophie Cunningham Really An Enforcer and Protector For Caitlin Clark?<\/p>\n

The Draymond Green comparison stems from more than just Cunningham\u2019s willingness to defend Clark and others. Like Green, she has been outspoken, often unafraid to call out officiating or offer blunt opinions on league matters.<\/p>\n

Her vocal leadership, toughness, and occasional controversy have made her a polarizing but beloved team member.<\/p>\n

For Cunningham, her comments, however, were more about appreciating Green\u2019s impact rather than emulating him. \u201cI don\u2019t mind Draymond,\u201d she admitted during the interview. \u201cI was just giving him his flowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Clark entered the league in 2024, opponents have targeted her with extra physicality, testing her composure and rhythm time and again. Cunningham, who averaged 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds before her injury, quickly embraced the role of standing by Clark.
Their relationship has become a centerpiece of the Fever\u2019s culture, blending Cunningham\u2019s toughness with Clark\u2019s generational playmaking.<\/p>\n

Though her season ended early, Cunningham\u2019s comments only show how committed she is to their equation, even if it means drawing comparisons to one of the NBA\u2019s most notorious enforcers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Indiana Fever have spent most of the season defying odds, being the underdogs, and continuing their grind.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-178453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}