Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Issues Serious Demand to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

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Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Issues Serious Demand to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert

Paolo Songco · Athlon Sports

Thu, Jul 24, 2025 ·

2 min read

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Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Issues Serious Demand to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert originally appeared on Athlon Sports .

Sophie Cunningham was not one of the players who represented the Indiana Fever in the All-Star weekend at Indianapolis. It was the trio of Caitlin Clark , Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell who took part in the All-Star Game, with Clark watching from the bench amid her groin injury.

Lexie Hull also participated in the 3-Point Contest as Clark's replacement after the latter was forced to pull out due to her groin problem.

Cunningham, however, still had a busy weekend as Indianapolis hosted this year's festivities. She was back at practice on Sunday, too, along with the rest of her non-All-Star teammates. The veteran guard acknowledged the fun times that were had over the All-Star break, but at the same time, Cunningham has also called on the league to make some changes.

"I think they need to find a way to give us a little bit more of a break," Cunningham told reporters during Sunday's practice. "... Kelsey (Mitchell), [Aliyah Boston] and Caitlin (Clark), they didn't really ever get a break. They still had to go to practice. They had to do all that.

"These are the top players in our league. That's what All-Star is all about, right? So, you kind of want to give them a break so you can get a good product out on the court.

"For me, I think they can find two extra days somewhere for us to just relax and sleep."

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during a game. Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

When asked about the 44-game WNBA season schedule and the buzz surrounding potentially extending the campaign, Cunningham issued a serious message directed at Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

"Yeah, you can just tell Cathy to pay us and then we can have a discussion," Cunningham said.

The players who took part in the All-Star Game wore shirts that had a blunt statement: "Pay Us What You Owe Us." This was a strong message amid the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the players' union and the league, and Cunningham has made it abundantly clear that she fully supports this demand.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.

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