About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Sophie Cunningham has now finished her second WNBA season with the Indiana Fever, helping her team reach the playoffs once again. But after finishing the 2026 regular season with a 28-16 record and earning the No. 6 seed, the Fever saw their season come to an end after losing in the first round 2-1 to A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces.
Cunningham was traded to Indiana ahead of the 2025 WNBA season, spending her first six years with the Phoenix Mercury. And since then, the former Missouri Tigers guard has become a star for the Fever, averaging 7.9 points on 46.0% shooting, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game coming off the bench in 2026.
But since Cunningham joined the WNBA in 2019, she has noticed that coaching has become "soft."
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) reacts to a call from the referee in Game 2 against the Las Vegas Aces.USA TODAY Network
In the latest episode of her podcast, "No Hesitation with Sophie Cunningham & Drew Hanlen," Cunningham's co-host pointed out that coaches tend to be tougher on men than women. That prompted the Fever guard to call out coaches for being too soft on players, saying they need to be a little tougher on them.
"Bring back hard coaching," Cunningham said. "I promise you that is why all of us pros are where we are because we had coaches who truly cared about us and loved us and saw our full potential. But with that, they didn't let us slip. If we did something wrong, they called us out for it. If we weren't going hard enough, if we weren't doing that, they were on our (expletive) and that is part of it…
But all that is just becoming your best, best self. And so, I do think that coaches are too soft on athletes nowadays… And maybe it's the parents, maybe its the athletes who can't take it. But then y'all shouldn't be in the sport because if your coach is on you, that means they see something in you, they see your full potential and where you could be. And it takes a village to get there."
Cunningham saw her one-year, $665,000 contract come to an end after the 2026 WNBA season, entering the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
Related: Aliyah Boston Shares Personal Update After Indiana Fever Season
This story was originally published by Athlon on Nov 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the WNBA section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: Sports
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