Sophie Cunningham

Cunningham attended Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri, where she led the girls' basketball team to four consecutive state championships. She was recognized as a McDonald's All-American and ranked among the top prospects in the country before choosing Missouri for college basketball.

During the 2014 football season, Cunningham joined Rock Bridge's football team as its kicker after the team's regular kicker suffered an ACL injury. She made two of four field-goal attempts and became the first female player in the school's history to score a point on the football team. She also played volleyball and participated in track and field.

Cunningham played four seasons for the Missouri Tigers from 2015 to 2019. In her collegiate debut, she scored a school-record 42 points against Wake Forest. She finished her Missouri career with 2,187 points, becoming the program's all-time leading scorer, and also set the school record for career free throws made with 537.

She was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2016 and earned three consecutive first-team All-SEC selections from 2017 through 2019. In her senior season, she received third-team All-America honors from the Associated Press and the United States Basketball Writers Association, the first All-America honor in Missouri women's basketball history. Cunningham helped Missouri reach the NCAA tournament in each of her four seasons, advancing to the second round three times.

Her sister Lindsey Cunningham also played basketball for Missouri. Together with Lindsey and coach Norm Stewart, Sophie Cunningham co-founded the Sophie Cunningham Classic, an annual Missouri girls' basketball showcase.

The Phoenix Mercury selected Cunningham with the 13th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 WNBA draft. She spent her first six WNBA seasons with Phoenix and developed into one of the league's most accurate three-point shooters. In 2021, she helped the Mercury reach the WNBA Finals and scored 21 points against the New York Liberty in the second round. In Game 2 of the Finals, she recorded nine points, five rebounds and two assists in Phoenix's overtime victory over the Chicago Sky.

Cunningham became a regular starter for the Mercury during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. She started all 31 games she played in during 2023, then appeared in a career-high 40 games in 2024 while recording career bests in defensive rebounds and steals. She also played professionally in Australia and France.

Phoenix traded Cunningham to the Indiana Fever in a four-team deal in 2025. She gained widespread attention after being ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul involving Jacy Sheldon following an incident in which Sheldon poked Caitlin Clark in the eye. Cunningham later suffered a torn right MCL that ended her 2025 season, and she re-signed with Indiana in 2026.

Cunningham became a recurring television analyst for the Phoenix Suns' Suns Live! broadcasts in 2022, appearing during pregame, halftime and post-game coverage. She also launched the podcast Show Me Something with Sophie & West.

She has spoken publicly about her Christian faith and described it as a grounding influence in her life. Cunningham has also characterized her political views as centrist and attracted national attention for her opposition to the participation of transgender women in women's sports.