Sophie Cunningham makes her feelings clear.
"That Team's Just Drama": Sophie Cunningham Isn't Backing Down Amid Fever-Mercury 'Beef' originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Sophie Cunningham’s return to Arizona was eventful, to say the least. The 28-year-old came back to PHX Arena on Thursday, August 7, to battle her former team, the Phoenix Mercury, for the first time since her offseason trade to the Indiana Fever.
Cunningham got a warm welcome from the home crowd as the Mercury showed a tribute video for her before tip-off. There’s no denying, however, that there was some animosity between her and some of her former teammates once the game started.
Sophie Cunningham's Comments on DeWanna Bonner
At one point in the game, Cunningham got into it with Mercury guard-forward DeWanna Bonner, who had a controversial exit from the Fever earlier in the season before signing with Phoenix as a free agent.
According to Cunningham, there was, indeed, some bad blood there.
"There's some, maybe a little bit of beef, because of our last podcast with how I mentioned some people should handle situations," Cunningham said on Wednesday’s episode of the “Show Me Something” podcast, which she co-hosts with reality TV star West Wilson.
Cunningham believes Bonner and the Mercury did not like what she had to say about the latter’s Fever departure. She was referencing her previous comments from the August 5 episode of her podcast when she made her feelings known about Bonner’s exit.
“I like DB,” she said previously. “DB was one of my vets when I was in Phoenix, and then we gathered here in Indiana. It was kind of a surprise she was signed to Indiana anyway. We’ll take her in a heartbeat. She’s a Hall-of-Famer, she’s a hell of a basketball player, can score from anywhere on the court.
“But she got to Indiana and she just really wasn’t happy,” Cunningham added. “I want people to be happy, so that's why I’m kind of neutral on this one, which a lot of people are surprised about. She's towards the end of her career, so she deserves her flowers, she deserves to be happy."
In the most recent episode of her show, Cunningham claimed that the animosity was brought about by her previous comments “a thousand percent.”
Cunningham Explains Fever-Mercury 'Beef'
Cunningham then shed some light on the supposed beef between the Fever and the Mercury. The 28-year-old also claimed that her earlier statement was taken out of context.
"Our teams don't really like each other anyway," Cunningham said. "Just because of, I don't know, her leaving, some of those players used to be under our coaching staff, and so there's just like a lot there.
“But I could have been way meaner. ... She didn't listen to the whole clip. She just saw the thing about she could have handled it more professional, which honestly, everyone that's talked to me besides their team was like, 'Yeah, she could have.' And so it's like, 'Duh.'
"That team's just drama to me. I don't know. But I went home and started hitting some threes. You know I was talking all (expletive). Oh god, it felt so good. I know we lost by 30, but I still got mine off."
Sophie Cunningham talking about how Phoenix wanted to pay her back because of the DeWanna comments on the last podcast.
— Ken Swift (@kenswift) August 13, 2025
Full Video Here: https://t.co/pdWMkhRq6Fpic.twitter.com/1OFEdBR1ZM
As Cunningham admitted, the Fever got blown out by the Mercury in their intense matchup, 95-60, but she was able to go off and prove something in her return to Phoenix by dropping a team-high 18 points on five three-pointers.
These two teams battle it out again on September 2 at PHX Arena, and there should be no shortage of action in that matchup.
Cunningham's Mercury Trade
Before joining the Fever in the offseason, Cunningham spent the first six years of her career in Phoenix. Her best season with the Mercury was arguably during the 2022 campaign when she averaged a career-best 12.6 points on 44.9% shooting, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals, while also connecting on 2.5 triples per game on a 40.0% clip. She came in third in the vote for the Most Improved Player that season.
Cunningham was part of a complex multi-team trade during the winter, which also involved the Connecticut Sun and the Dallas Wings. The Fever gave up NaLyssa Smith, their 2025 first-round pick and a 2027 third-rounder. In return, they got Cunningham, a second-round pick and Jaelyn Brown, who they eventually waived.
Cunningham is currently on a one-year deal worth $100,000. She will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Related: Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Had Something to Say About Mercury Before Facing Former Team
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
