Unafraid on and off the court, direct, and always willing to do whatever it takes to feel supported; that’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone asks me to describe WNBA players. And you know, these traits have never been clearer than right now, especially with everything happening around the CBA negotiations. It’s like we’re finally seeing the side of them that doesn’t fit neatly inside the lines of a space we’ve always associated them with… the side Sophie Cunningham put into words better than anyone.

I think if not all, at least most newcomers to the league probably got introduced to Sophie Cunningham after that whole thing went down in the Connecticut Sun game. She took that hard foul on Jacy Sheldon and suddenly we were on the edge of a full-on brawl. Cunningham and Sheldon going at it on the baseline. Hope you remember that moment. 

In case you don’t, take a look here: 

And that’s kind of been Sophie’s image her whole career: fiery, physical, super competitive. So people just assume that’s exactly who she is off the court too. But that’s not true. Not at all. And if you ask Sophie, she’ll tell you that goes for the entire WNBA.

“I’m not just speaking for myself, I think I’m speaking on behalf of probably the whole league that when people see us competing and trying to fight to do anything it takes to win because this is a hard, hard league, they automatically think that’s what you’re like off the court. People need to get to know us players and not judge the competitive side of us compared to our off court,” she said.

After hearing this, the first two people who popped into my mind are Jackie Young and Kelsey Mitchell. The fiercer they are on the court, the quieter they are off it. And if we’re counting college hoopers, Sarah Strong fits that perfectly too. Even Cunningham’s own teammates look like the exact kind of folks you’d want to just hang out with. The same goes  for our ‘best player on the planet.’ A’ja Wilson is someone everyone fears the second she steps on the hardwood, but off the court seems like the girl you’d want in your group chat. A total girls’ girl.

Thankfully, in today’s world, social media allows us to get these tiny glimpses into their lives: the goofy side, the soft side, the side that has nothing to do with boxing out or fighting through screens. The one they keep miles away when it’s time to ask for what they deserve. We all saw how hard they fought through CBA talks in the fiercest way possible (like they do on the hardwood), every single player standing shoulder to shoulder.

Speaking of which, now that we’re halfway through this extension month of November… where exactly are we at?

Cunningham might’ve just dropped an update.

Sophie Cunningham drops CBA update

Sophie Cunningham was out there “golfing with friends.” But the CBA followed her all the way to Florida. Because while she and Lexie Hull were walking the course at The Annika, helping caddie for Caitlin Clark during the Pro-Am, a fan suddenly yelled out for both of them to re-sign with the Fever this offseason. 

And Sophie didn’t miss a beat. “Tell them to pay us,” she shot back. She was obviously talking about the ongoing CBA negotiations,  the same talks that got pushed 30 more days after the players opted out of the 2020 deal. And the update she dropped this week doesn’t sound very exciting.

In her chat with Annie Costibile of Front Office Sports, Sophie kept it real. “There’s really not a lot to talk about … on [the players’] end until there’s a new CBA.” She added that the last meeting was about two weeks ago, and while the execs are talking daily, there hasn’t been much movement at all. That sounds like a whole lot of waiting, a whole lot of hoping, and not a whole lot of progress.

So for now, all we know is this: the players are holding their ground, the negotiations are crawling, and we can only hope for an update after the extended negotiation period ends.