Sophie Cunningham unleashes growing Fever frustrations: ‘No one likes us’

Sophie Cunningham is tired of the Fever’s recent woes and isn’t up to make excuses as the team goes through a rough patch, dropping three of its last five games.

There is no blame on the new 44-regular-season-game schedule nor the packed weeks teams encounter, as the Fever sit just outside of the eighth and final playoff spot at No. 9 in the league.

However, the veteran guard does believe there is a “no one likes us” mood around the team.

To her, the Fever has been targeted by other teams and they need to find a better way to band together against them.

“I think so far this season, we’ve had a lot of distractions, you can call it. Some injuries,” Cunningham said after their home 85-75 loss Thursday night to the Sparks (5-11). “But I think that’s really good for us. Let’s go through the adversity early, let’s learn from it.

“The good news is we’re not gonna peak too early, so I mean that’s a positive. It’s not an excuse. Everyone’s playing a back-to-back, everyone has this kind of rough schedule. For us, it’s another opportunity tomorrow, and we’ve got to capitalize on it … We are circled on everybody’s schedule. No one likes us, right? So everyone in our locker room, that’s the only type of people that we have that we can lean on.

“We have got to stay disciplined, we have to stay focused, we need to get consistent, and we got to lean on each other. And I think we’ve kind of wavered on that.”

The Fever (7-8) led by eight points Thursday going into the fourth quarter, yet the Sparks found some late-game energy to outscore them, 35-17, in the final frame for the win.

It mirrored previous to losses to the Valkyries and Aces, which included second-half collapses after grabbing double-digit leads and failing to hold their fourth-quarter leads.

Cunningham, acquired by the Fever in an offseason trade, has grown frustrated and pointed to needed locker room adjustments, which can be tough when leader Caitlin Clark has had two injury stints just a month into the season.

The team announced Thursday that Clark would not play in the Sparks matchup after suffering a left groin injury, which came not long after she missed five games with a quad injury.

Clark returned for five games before being sidelined again, and the Fever are 2-4 without her.

The Fever now await to hear Clark’s status for Friday’s game against the Wings at American Airlines Center.

If available, it would be the first showdown between Clark and 2025 No. 1 pick Paige Bueckers in the WNBA.

Bueckers, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year, recently said there are “unfair” expectations placed on Clark.

“I would just say [Clark] handles it with grace, and the pressure that she’s put on every single night to perform at the level that she does — it’s inhumane, really,” Bueckers said Thursday. “To expect people to be perfect and to not have off games or off nights. If she doesn’t go 8-for-10 from 3, people are questioning things. It’s unfair to have to deal with that.

“She’s a great person at dealing with it, and just tuning out the noise and just continuing to be there for herself and for her team.”