"She's like silent assasin" - Sophie Cunningham snubs Caitlin Clark on her toughest players list in favor of 3x All-Star guard

Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham left out teammate Caitlin Clark in her top five toughest players list. Cunningham's list included the five finalists for this season's MVP award.

In Tuesday's episode of "The Young Man and The Three," host Tommy Alter asked Cunningham who she thinks are the five "dogs" in the WNBA. The 6-foot-1 guard first mentioned Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier.

Cunningham then gave flowers to Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas and three-time WNBA All-Star Allisha Gray of the Atlanta Dream.

"I'd probably go Alyssa Thomas, she's just tough, man," Cunningham said (Timestamp: 29:44). "I would like Allisha Gray. ... I just think she's like a silent assassin. Like she doesn't do too much, she's not loud at what she does, but she's had a hell of a season."

Cunningham rounded up her list with her Fever teammate:

"I think another one I would pick Kelsey Mitchell. She's just on another planet right now. ... Literally, no one can stop her."

Cunningam's first season with the Fever was cut short with a season-ending MCL injury. The 29-year-old guard appeared in 30 games, averaging 8.6 points on career-best shooting percentages of 46.9% from the field and 43.2% from 3-point range.

Sophie Cunningham reveals the Fever coaches' preferred first-round opponent

In a clip of the same podcast episode shared on X, Sophie Cunningham revealed the Indiana Fever's coaches' preferred opponent in the playoffs. The No. 6 Fever's first-round matchup wasn't set until the final day of the regular season on Sept. 11.

The Las Vegas Aces and the Atlanta Dream battled for the second and third seeds. With Las Vegas winning its season finale, it tied Atlanta with a 30-14 record. However, the Aces got the No. 2 seed by virtue of winning the head-to-head matchup. Thus, the No. 3 Dream went on to play the Fever.

"A lot of our staff wanted to play the Aces instead of Atlanta," Cunningham said. "I was like, 'Hell no, what are you guys talking about?' ... Even if they have one off night, whatever, they have won championships after championships and you have the reigning MVP three of four different times. ... I was like, 'We want Atlanta, we do not want Vegas.'"

Sophie Cunningham's Fever eliminated the Dream in the first round. They then stole Game 1 of the semifinals against the Aces. They look to continue their Cinderella run and aim to take a commanding 2-0 series lead on Tuesday.

Edited by Kim Daniel Rubinos