The Indiana Fever has officially drawn curtains on its 2025 season. It was a rollercoaster ride, to say the least. Losing five key players to season-ending injuries, then making a miraculous semifinal run with a limited roster, just to end in Game 5 OT, and another star player was injured. This was just a glimpse of what Indiana went through. But holding no grudges, Sophie Cunningham gave her one-word summary of her time with the franchise.

While sitting with West Wilson for her Show Me Something podcast, Cunningham summed up her one year with Indiana with just one word: “grateful.” Despite all the highs and lows, she is grateful for everything that the Indiana Fever stood for this season. As she puts it, “This season has been so fun and so amazing in more ways than I can even count. One, our locker room. Like… our locker room was so close-knit and so fun and just full of love that I’ve never been part of a locker room like that ever. And it was awesome.”

For her 2025 season, Cunningham played 30 out of the 44 regular-season games, starting 13 of them. In those games, she averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 blocks per game. Unfortunately, in an August game against the Connecticut Sun, she tore the MCL in her right knee, ending her season immediately. Despite this setback mid-season, Sophie Cunningham was a constant presence on the Fever bench.

She had every reason to feel down, looking at her team depleted in front of her eyes. But still in the face of all these injuries, Cunningham is glad she was with Indiana. “It was also a season from hell, too, because of the injury bug. But through it all, I’m grateful. I think the relationships and the memories that this team created are going to be one for a lifetime. Like, people don’t even go through the amount of adversity and everything that happened to us in a career, let alone one season,” she said.

While she may sing praises for Indiana, her one-year contract with the franchise is now over. She came to the Indiana Fever via a trade with the Phoenix Mercury worth $100,000. However, with the season over, she is an unrestricted free agent, free to look at better opportunities. And she has already signalled a soft goodbye to the Fever.

“So it’s just like this team will always remember this for the good and the bad. And a locker room is never the same next year. I mean, you want to keep pieces, but it’s never [that]… Who knows? Like, no one’s under contract. Who knows what’s going to happen… This could be my last time in an Indiana Fever jersey.”

While Sophie Cunningham has not officially said goodbye to Caitlin Clark & Co., she will still keep her options open for better offers. The Fever guard had the same approach in her exit interview, having a cheeky response to it. Earlier, she said, “I might be blonde, but I can’t just not look at other opportunities.”

Although her biggest concern is not finding a new team for the next season. Cunningham is one of the more vocal players who want a change in WNBA leadership amidst CBA negotiations, else she is ready for a lockout. She made these feelings clear during her exit interview.

Before any roster shakeups, Sophie Cunningham wants leadership changes in the WNBA

Being one of the vocal players of the W, Cunningham has never backed down from calling a spade a spade. Now Cathy Engelbert is in her line of fire following Collier’s public outcry. In her exit interview, Fever guard has openly criticized the WNBA commissioner, echoing concerns that have simmered for months.

First reported by ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Cunningham warned of a possible lockout if negotiations around the Collective Bargaining Agreement don’t improve. “There’s a potential lockout… we aren’t going to play until they give us what we deserve,” she said, calling it a major setback considering the league’s rising momentum.

Cunningham didn’t stop there, questioning the league’s decision-makers. “A lot of people in positions of power… they might be really great business people, but they don’t know s— about basketball, and that’s got to change.” Her frustration mirrored Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier. The Lynx star recently accused Engelbert of being “negligent” on key issues like officiating and player pay.

All statements of Sophie Cunningham point towards change, be it on a personal level or league-wide. But she is embracing it with open arms, something others should look up to.