Sophie Cunningham did not attend the All-Star Game with her team, the Indiana Fever, this past weekend. In fact, she stayed in Indianapolis, which will host the 2025 festivities. However, she returned to practice on Sunday and delivered a clear message to the WNBA and its commissioner, Cathy Engelbert.
The Fever shooting guard is one of the players who supported the recent WNBA protest. She is now calling on the league to make key changes that would help improve player performance. She also shared how much she enjoyed spending time with her teammates during the All-Star break.
A demand or a request to the WNBA?
According to Athlonsports, Sophie Cunningham made a specific request to the WNBA on Sunday during practice:
“I think they need to find a way to give us a little more rest… Kelsey (Mitchell), Aliyah Boston, and Caitlin (Clark) never really got a break. They still had to go train. They had to do all of that.”
soph3ieee pic.twitter.com/7ZrM5FOPyY
— Sophie Cunningham Central (@sophiecham_fan) July 16, 2025
“These are the best players in our league. That’s what All-Star is about, right? So you want to give them rest so they can deliver a quality product on the court. For me, I think they can find two extra days somewhere so we can relax and sleep,” the Indiana guard stated.
Regarding the WNBA’s 44-game schedule, which could potentially expand, Cunningham addressed Cathy Engelbert directly:
“Yeah, you can tell Cathy to pay us, and then we can have a conversation.”
That is one of the main demands WNBA players are currently making. That’s why they wore shirts during the All-Star Game with the message ‘Pay Us What You Owe Us’. This was a response and form of pressure during the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations between the players’ union and the league. At 28 years old, Cunningham knows exactly which side she stands on.
