It was hard to miss the glow on Sophie Cunningham’s face when she talked about life beyond the basketball court while being mounted on her horse. It was a glimpse into a side of the Indiana Fever star’s life that she wants fans to see. Cunningham showed that there’s more to her life than hitting threes and being Caitlin Clark’s enforcer, and they loved it.
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“Embrace what makes you different than everyone else because that’s going to be your biggest superpower. Comparison is a thief of all joy, and so being you is what’s going to set you apart and make you be successful.”
Cunningham said in the very first episode of Beyond Basketball that the Indiana Fever shared on X.
Lately, Cunningham has also been in the headlines for her views, which go beyond the Indiana Fever’s basketball. She went viral and faced criticism both online and offline for her views about transgender participation in sports. In July, she told ESPN that young women shouldn’t have to play against “biological men.” Despite the heavy scrutiny and protest outside the arenas during the Fever games, Cunningham didn’t back down.
Two months after her comments, she is showing another side of herself that is winning fans over. It was hard to miss the sight of Cunningham running to the animals on the farm, petting a donkey and feeding goats and sheep like she had lived there for a long time.
“This is so beautiful, heartwarming and inspiring, I love this so much!” a fan wrote.
“Glad she doing what she is doing, testing the water to see what she wants to really get into after she is done with basketball in case she is doing something for the future,” one fan commented.
Sophie Cunningham has already said that she wanted a versatile life that is not just in front of the camera. During her appearance on the Sons and Daughters podcast earlier this week, she said that she wanted to own land, get married, have children and lots of donkeys & cows.
“Sophie, that’s a message worth sharing beyond basketball. Young people don’t need to become copies of their heroes. They need the confidence to develop their own strengths. Being yourself and putting in the work can go hand in hand.”
Cunningham is the second most-followed player in the WNBA, even more than Caitlin Clark. The Fever star is using that platform not just to share different aspects of her life, but also to normalize love for animals that has been an integral part of her life since her childhood and share lessons she learned growing up on a Missouri farm.
Cunningham’s aura on the basketball court is that of a hyper-competitive athlete. Some of her most viral videos are of her pointing a finger at DeWanna Bonner, physical altercation with Jacy Sheldon. Watching Cunningham’s love for animals and her feet naturally skip around the field felt different for a lot of fans.
“This is so wholesome,” one fan wrote.
“BE YOU. DO THE WORK. BUILD YOUR FUTURE! Love this message, Sophie. Your differences aren’t something to hide—they can be what you bring to the team. Basketball, life and a day on the farm: plenty of ways to inspire the next generation!” another fan wrote.
Cunningham revealed in the video that she grew up with 25 horses, and she inherited her love for animals from her grandparents, who owned 500 beef cattle and several pigs. Her life has changed since becoming a full-time athlete, but that has barely impacted who she was outside those four lines.
But Cunningham wants her life to extend in many directions. Today, she is one of the most talked-about athletes in America, but she is more than the aspects of herself that dominate those conversations. Sophie Cunningham is far more than just an athlete.