The Indiana Fever’s rollercoaster 2025 WNBA season took another sharp turn this week, as the franchise confirmed that guard Sophie Cunningham will miss the remainder of the season with a torn MCL in her right knee. Cunningham’s injury, suffered during the second quarter of the Fever’s thrilling 99-93 overtime victory over the Connecticut Sun on August 17, has further depleted an already injury-ravaged Fever backcourt and left the team scrambling for solutions as the playoff race intensifies.
The moment was as sudden as it was painful for both Cunningham and the Fever faithful. As Connecticut’s Bria Hartley drove to the basket, she collided with Cunningham’s leg, sending the Fever guard crumpling to the baseline in obvious agony. The game paused as medical staff rushed to her side, and the arena fell silent. "The way she fell and how she was holding herself and how much pain she was in, at the time it’s like, ‘crap,’” head coach Stephanie White told reporters. “And then you go down there, you see her and it’s like OK, I just want her to calm down and be able to regroup, and then it turns to problem solving, right? How do we put ourselves in a position to win? I think that’s maybe how I survive is going straight to problem solving. But this group, they’re special and I’m thankful for them.”
After an MRI in Indianapolis on August 18 confirmed the worst—a season-ending MCL tear—the team made the official announcement on August 19. Cunningham, who joined the Fever in January as part of a complex four-team trade involving the Phoenix Mercury, Connecticut Sun, and Dallas Wings, had quickly established herself as a key contributor in her debut season with Indiana. Over 30 games, including 13 starts, she averaged 8.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per contest, shooting an impressive 46.9% from the field and 43.2% from beyond the arc. She also knocked down 87.5% of her free throws and scored 15 or more points on six occasions, providing a much-needed scoring punch off the bench and as a spot starter.
Cunningham’s impact, however, went far beyond the box score. She became a fan favorite after a highly publicized flagrant foul defending teammate Caitlin Clark in a heated June matchup with the Sun, an incident that sparked a viral melee and sent Cunningham’s social media presence and jersey sales soaring. She even launched her own podcast, further cementing her status as one of the league’s most colorful personalities. Now, with her season cut short, the Fever lose not just a shooter and defender, but also a vibrant locker room leader and emotional spark plug.
The injury bug has been relentless in Indiana this year. Cunningham is now the third Fever guard to suffer a season-ending injury in a span of just 11 days, joining Aari McDonald (broken foot) and Sydney Colson (torn ACL) on the sidelines. The team has also been without rookie sensation Caitlin Clark, who hasn’t played since July 15 due to a lingering right groin injury. Clark, a two-time All-Star and last season’s WNBA Rookie of the Year, has managed only 13 appearances this season, hampered by a series of muscle strains. Head coach Stephanie White remains hopeful for Clark’s return before the regular season concludes on September 9, but no official timeline has been provided.
With so many key contributors out, the Fever have been forced to get creative with their roster. Immediately following the Cunningham announcement, the team signed veteran guard Shey Peddy to a seven-day hardship contract and released Kyra Lambert, who had herself been on a hardship deal for just five days. Peddy, a WNBA veteran since 2019, most recently played for the Los Angeles Sparks and brings experience and steady playmaking to a Fever backcourt now relying on stopgap solutions. Odyssey Sims, who signed her own hardship contract on August 10, will also be called upon to shoulder more of the playmaking duties as Indiana attempts to weather the storm.
"It’s huge," White said of the team’s much-needed midweek break. "We need the rest. We need recovery. We have players who have played a lot of heavy minutes, so we need that (rest) and we need time to re-calibrate. After Phoenix, it was a quick turnaround to figure out how we’re going to play without Aari and Syd. Now we have to figure out how we’re going to play without Sophie, who can play in certain roles, substitution patterns and what kind of wrinkles we can throw out there. It doesn’t get any easier. It’s really good mentally, physically and emotionally for us, and then it gives us practice time, which we’re going to need."
Despite the adversity, the Fever have managed to keep themselves in the playoff hunt. With a 19-16 record, Indiana currently holds the sixth-best mark in the WNBA, but the margin for error is razor-thin. The team sits just two and a half games clear of the playoff bubble, and with the postseason race heating up, every game takes on added significance.
The next test comes quickly, as the Fever prepare to host the league-leading Minnesota Lynx (28-5) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on August 22 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The Lynx, perennial title contenders, have shown few weaknesses this season. Indiana’s coaching staff faces the daunting task of reworking the rotation and finding ways to generate offense and maintain defensive intensity without three of their top guards. The Fever will be eligible for a third hardship contract spot once Cunningham officially misses Friday’s game, giving general manager Amber Cox another opportunity to patch the roster—either by re-signing Lambert or bringing in fresh reinforcements.
In the meantime, players like Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston will need to step up. The emotional toll of repeated injuries has not gone unnoticed. "It’s deja vu, man," Mitchell said after witnessing Cunningham’s fall. “I feel like I just saw AB (Aliyah Boston) on the ground covering someone else up and it was just — I think part of it is truly humbling. But on the other side, seeing Soph go down, it fuels you. If you care about your team, care about the people in your locker room — I can’t even explain it. You just really have to care about the people you play with and it fuels who we are as people.”
For Cunningham, the road to recovery now begins. Team officials and medical staff expect her to make a full recovery, and as an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025 WNBA calendar year, her future remains a key storyline for the franchise and its fans. The Fever, meanwhile, must regroup quickly, relying on their resilience and depth as they fight to keep their postseason hopes alive. With the season’s final weeks looming and adversity mounting, Indiana’s mettle will be tested like never before.
